Clouds
by Greed's Accident
Summary: SPR goes to check out an Inn run by a foreigner, and Mai attempts to write poetry. But when something goes wrong, Mai's poem may be the key to getting the answers, or the fastest way to screw things up. Light MaiNaru
1. Clouds 1

I haven't had much experience at all writing fan fiction (hence the bad description), so please don't be mean : P I want to write a lot, but first I need to see if I'm any good at it right? So yeah..? I watched the entire anime series, and own the first two volumes, but I have some dorky friends who don't tend to warn when they're talking spoiler like, so I'm very upset at them. But I will try to avoid spoilers at all costs so you don't start reading something only to find in say the 4th or so chapter about the fact that there are major spoilers, and then not be able to finish. NEW- i cleaned up a few points where I thought there was confusion.

Disclaimer- I don't own Ghost Hunt. So... yeah. Not mine. I made a few characters, but those are mine. So we're good yeah? Oh, and Air? Also known as Air TV, I don't own it or its intro theme either. Which by the way (happy dance) is coming out in English! At least, I believe so... yeah!

* * *

1- 

Mai Taniyama had spent the previous day and night up watching an anime her friend suggested. It was called Air. Her friend had said it was nice and that she loved it. How was Mai supposed to know that her friend liked sad stuff? What kind of person would have the complete DVD set of such a sad anime?

Needless to say, even if it was sad, it was still good. She needed to see the end. Which meant staying up all night, crying. Lots of people at school were surprised to see Mai arrive tired with tear-stained red eyes. Her teacher was surprised because she didn't come to school other days when she was perfectly fine. But the other days she had been working, and she didn't need to come in today until after school.

Even after sleeping as much as classes would permit, she was still teary thinking of the poor characters, and still tired from the experience. Just thinking about it... She wiped her eyes, and stepped into the office quietly. If her boss didn't know she was in yet, he might give her a chance to calm down before he asked for anything.

No such luck.

As she closed the door, trying to be quiet, her boss was with a potential client in the main room. She ducked into the kitchen and turned her back to the two.

"Mai, tea." came the voice of her boss, whom Mai had nicknamed Naru. Because that was all he said, she decided to assume he didn't notice. Some part of her said that he did, and just wasn't pointing it out because of the client. But that would have been nice of him, and he was not nice. She put down her bag, and got out the kettle.

The potential client looked expectantly at Naru. "So, are you going to come check it out? I just know it has to do with ghosts and such." She said, clutching her handbag that was on her lap tightly. She was also chewing gum furiously.

Naru thought about it for a moment. "No. Put a lock on the switch box. And tell your children not to fool around with it" The woman looked hurt and shuffled out. He looked over into the kitchen where Mai was staring at the water, waiting for it to boil. He stared for a moment. Mai felt the look on her back and turned around to meet his irritated eyes. She turned back and gasped inwardly. He had seen her while she was still crying!

She hurried with the process, and poured the tea. The next time she turned, there was nobody there. She hadn't heard any doors. How on earth did Naru open and close them so quietly? She went to his office door, which wasn't even slightly open. She didn't want to spend much time, so she quickly deposited the tea on his desk without looking at him. As she walked out she sat down on the couch and wiped her eyes again.

Nothing to do only made her think about that show. How much sadness can be crammed into one series? But it was good. She thought about what had happened. She thought that characters with wings were always awesome. Absentmindedly, she started to think it would be interesting to have wings. Wouldn't it be neat though?

She started to hum the intro theme for Air. And rooted around in her school bag for paper and a pen. Poetry may not have been her strong point, but all it takes to write it is feelings right? Well, she had feelings now, so she was going to try.

(AN-lyrics for the intro theme to Air, Tori no Uta)

_Kieru hikoukigumo bokutachi wa miokutta mabushikute nigeta itsudatte yowakute ano hi kara..._

After a few moments, of humming she paused and started to write. After writing one stanza, she put down the pen and looked at it, and realised it was really childish.

_If I had a pair_

_Of pretty white wings_

_I'd take to the sky every day_

There was no rhyme or pattern, but whatever. She'd figure that out with the second stanza. She picked up the pen again when the phone rang. Hiding the paper in her bag she walked over and picked it up.

"Shibuya Physic Research. This is Mai," she said, trying to be cheerful.

"My... name is Ms. Hope. Can I come in and talk to your boss anytime?" Asked a timid, female voice. Mai looked at the door to his office. He was never doing anything important really, was he? At least Lin seemed to be doing something more important. But then again... who knows? Lin didn't talk much. Then she remembered she hadn't asked Lin if he wanted tea. Although it struck her as odd that Lin didn't come out when Naru was talking to the other customer.

She decided. "I can have you talk to him right now if you'd like." Mai said, looking for the hold button to transfer it to his line.

"Okay. That would work." the woman sounded very relieved.

"Is something wrong?" asked Mai, after locating the hold button. She paused, her finger hovering over it.

The client laughed. "Oh I'd just heard that there was a really rude person working there who didn't listen to people very well, and rarely helps, but talking to you is a relief." She sighed. "Or am I not in the clear yet?"

It was Mai's turn to laugh. "Oh he's not that bad. Well, maybe he is. But anyway. I'll transfer the call to his line." She pressed the hold button and knocked on Naru's office's door. "Naru, there's a person the line who would like to speak to you."

There was no response. Not even movement, so she opened the door. Naru was sitting at his desk. He had headphones on.

Naru listening to music? No. There had to be a more work-related answer. It couldn't have been music. She tapped his desk and was glad she had a chance to laugh before she walked in because she felt much better. He looked up, and clicked a button on his computer. Removing the headset he asked, "What do you want?"

Although it wasn't much of a question. It was more of a demand. She couldn't help what kind of a person would spread around rumours about Naru's attitude. Probably a client that he wouldn't listen to. Then again, there was probably was no problem with the places he ended up declining anyway. Mai grumbled a bit. "What were you doing?" she asked. There had to be a work-related reason to what he had been doing.

"I was listening to a book on CD. If I can listen to it, I can use my computer and research at the same time." he said. Mai couldn't believe that he could actually focus on both things at the same time to be able to get something out of both of them. "What do you want?" Again, he could have been polite. But that was a lost battle for now.

Whatever. "There's someone on the line that wants to talk to you." she said and walked out, resolving to get something to eat. As she was fixing a snack, Naru walked out of his office, and into Lin's.

Once she had finished snaking, she was about to pull out the poem and work on it more, when Naru walked out of Lin's office.

"Mai." he said, and she looked up to an unreadable expression. What on earth? How was anyone supposed to be able to tell what he was thinking? "Call everyone. Tell them to be here tomorrow morning at 10." that was a surprise. Why so late? Wasn't it usually around 7?

Apparently her surprise was noted. "It's later, because you always find some way to be late."

Grumbling she set to her task, and picked up the small laminated card she wrote down everyone's numbers on. Well, it wasn't laminated, just taped with packing tape. Lucky she did too... you could see traces of multi-coloured liquid on the cracks between pieces.

She started at the top with Takigawa. Not that she called him that. He earned the nickname Bou-san, and it was staying, similar to Naru, but only she called him Bou-san. He didn't take much time, although he had to ask about the uncommon arrival time. Mai would never tell him why so she just said that she didn't know.

Ayako was next. She took a bit longer. She wanted to know about the case. Mai couldn't help with that, so Ayako finally gave up asking. She did, however, agree to come even without any information.

Masako took very little time. She said she was very busy and didn't have time to talk, but once Mai said Naru wanted her help on a new case, she was all ears. Although apparently she really was busy because she had to leave right away anyway.

John couldn't help. He said that if he could, it wouldn't be for at least a few days, because he didn't feel well. Mai wished him well, and hung up.

She looked at the clock. She really didn't so much here, did she? Naru said that she was filling a position of someone who left, but she never heard anything about that person, and couldn't imagine anyone else the office actually needing someone to do the job.

_Ahh, but if I'm getting paid for it, there's no downside to it, right?_ She thought. Before she got the job she would sit at home being bored, and afterwards? She sat at the office getting tea for others occasionally, getting paid, and being bored.

Maybe not that big of a change. But now she also had a good reason to skip school. Not that that helped her situation with Naru either. But if he really wanted her to study hard and such, he wouldn't ask her to work during the time she was supposed to be at school. At least that's what she thought.

* * *

After assembling all the equipment, and organizing rides (Mai with Naru and Lin, Takigawa driving Masako and Ayako), they were going to leave. But Masako couldn't stand the arrangement. 

"Oh Mai, Takigawa wanted to talk to you. It would be a much better chance if you went with him." She said, and looked at Naru. Mai turned to see Takigawa was out of earshot loading Ayako stuff, meaning he couldn't say that wasn't true. Supposing that it wasn't, that is, and that Masako was just trying to go with Naru.

Naru looked at the two of them for a moment. Then Mai decided it wasn't that bad of an idea. Considering how talkative Naru was, and how pleasant his company was, it wasn't worth being near him. "Okay. I guess so." the only reason she didn't really want Masako to go was jealousy. But hey, if she wanted such an uncomfortable situation, whatever.

Naru looked at Mai, as she walked over to where Takigawa was complaining to Ayako about heavy bags ("Is it all really important? Come on I'm sure you don't need anything in here!" (slap) "Don't you even think about opening it! It's my stuff! I'll bring what I want!") "Hara-san, We're going." Masako frowned at this. Always Hara-san. She wanted the same as Mai, to be called by first name. She also wondered why Mai accepted it so easily. Did she actually believe that Takigawa had to talk to her?

Mai walked with her bag to Takigawa, and smiled. "Masako wants to go with Naru. So I'm over here." Ayako laughed.

"I thought you liked Naru! You just let her take the trip with him?" Mai blushed a bit, and was too flustered to answer.

Takigawa just laughed. "No, he's a bore. He never talks about anything besides work. And in the rare cases when he does, you wish he didn't. Let's get your bag in here, and lets go."

* * *

When they arrived at the location of the case, Naru was just ahead of them. It was a large house in on the countryside. Waiting outside was a woman, who was not as old as Mai had imagined (if it was the person she talked to on the phone), with deep red hair tied back in a light blue ribbon. She wore all deep colours. She had a brown skirt and a navy jacket. Her eyes were a pale shade of blue, more like a grey, with a dark grey outline. She smiled and waved, so Mai returned it. 

She walked out to the street. And introduced herself to Naru. "My name is Noon Hope, and I moved here from North America about a year ago. I started a little Inn type thing with two friends here. And even though it seems we're out of the way, people do stop in all the time. In fact, in the past week, people have been much more frequent." She motioned to a dirt parking lot, which was nearly full. It had about 15 places, and there was only 3 or so not filled. "We're a bit busy, but that makes this more important."

Noon counted in her head for a moment. Naru looked over the building. "We need a room to set up our equipment in." Noon nodded again, and thought carefully.

"Our rooms are designed for 2 or 3 people each. Never more than that. So if you need a room to work, We have two 2-person rooms, and one 3. One will have to be for your equipment, so then someone will have to stay in that room." she thought for a moment. "I'll show you inside."

The group followed Noon through the inn. There were chairs in random little corners, with lights. Many were occupied by a person reading. They walked down the hall until they came up to a staircase. On the second floor, they got the rooms closest to the staircase. Also closest to the breakfast room so they could go right to it first thing.

"I saved them for you. Although I intended to save a few more, as I said, guests came." Naru chose the room in the middle, one of the two person rooms, to be for the base. He then decided that he would stay in the base. Lin was not pleased at having to stay with one of the others, and Naru had to stay with him in the other 2-person room.

"Mai, you're with Masako and I. Let Takigawa stay in the base." Ayako said, opening the door to the 3-person room.

Takigawa scoffed. "No, let Mai stay in the base. She's probably going to fall asleep in there anyway. She usually does. Besides, she works when she sleeps." Mai grumbled, and was about to complain, when Masako spoke up.

"That sounds like a good arrangement. I need to get my stuff now. Please excuse me." She said covering her mouth with the sleeve of her Kimono.

Noon clapped her hands. "Then it's all worked out!" She gave out keys to Naru and Ayako. Mai was about to take the key to her room, when Naru grabbed it.

"It's still base." he said and went downstairs, followed by Lin.

Takigawa laughed at Mai. "Well, now don't you feel comfortable! You won't be able to get into your room all the time, and even if you lock it, he can still get in." Ayako laughed too. They retreated to the car for their bags as well.

Noon smiled. "Such a nice bunch. I hope you guys can get this figured out. She pulled out another key, and opened the room for Mai. "This is the master key. I don't know if I should give it to you, but I have another master key, so I'll be okay. Just don't let anyone else get it, and don't abuse it okay?" Mai nodded, and accepted the key.

"Thank you! I'm Mai Taniyama." She held out her hand to have it shaken.

Noon did so. "You're the one I talked to first right? Well now I'm really okay about letting you have it. Oh and I wouldn't tell your boss about that key." she said with a wink. "Oh look who's here." Mai put the key in her pocket right away.

Naru was back. Lin was behind him holding one of the shelves. Naru opened the door to Mai's room. "Ms. Hope, is there anyway we can have some of this furniture moved out? To make room?" Noon nodded. "I need everything out. "

Noon frowned. "Ahh, Mr. Shibuya, is your assistant not sleeping in here? Can we leave one of the single beds for her?" She asked in Mai's defence. Ayako and Takigawa returned with their stuff, but neither one opened the door to their room.

Naru shook his head. "Although if you have a fold out couch, that would work." Noon nodded and walked away. Lin set the shelves on the ground. Naru looked at Mai for a moment, then to Takigawa, then Ayako.

"Are you going to go get equipment?" he asked. Though it sounded much more like 'go get equipment'. Masako reached the top of the stairs with her stuff and took the key from Ayako, and went in.

"Hey!" Ayako called after, folowing her into the room. Naru turned aand walked into the base.

Mai helped bring in the equipment. By the time she had brought one load in, Noon had brought 7 people (4 maids, and 3 guests) to help clear out the room. The next time Mai was back, there was a couch in the corner and the shelves were set. She began to set up the monitors. It was about 1:30, so she decided the next trip was for her stuff. She put her suitcase on the couch. One of the maids brought in a pillow and a blanket for her. She put this on the couch too.

"My name is Yue, and this is my floor, so if you need anything..." She looked around. "Well, anything that still fits in here, I'll be the one to call." She sighed and shook her head. "Not very nice of him to refuse a proper bed."

Mai shrugged. "Its okay, At least I'll be on my own." Then it occurred to her that Naru would probably be working late into the night, on a computer... with a bright screen... And Lin, who knows when he would sleep.

The maid shrugged. "Well, anyway. Just holler, and I'll be here." Just then a voice down the hall called out for Yue. "...Like that. Don't be shy, that's how it works here, okay?"

Takigawa, Lin and Naru entered with the last of the monitors and cameras. Naru spoke up, seeing Mai doing nothing. "Mai, go get temperatures."

She looked up. " But how will I get into the rooms? All of them are full!" he shrugged and she wandered out with her clipboard. The key... She would knock, and if no one answered, she would use the key. But Noon had trusted her...

Mai talked to Noon, and she got permission to enter all the rooms, after knocking twice and counting to 10.

It wouldn't be so bad, right? she thought. Her mind strayed to was what she would do if Naru and Lin worked all night. Then her poem came to mind. She would work on that! But all night..?


	2. Clouds 2

Hello again! I'm very happy that people took the time to review. (Cheer) Thank-you, all of you who took the time to read, and thanks again for opening the second chapter, yeah? I'll be updating often, because I have nothing better to do, but I want to make sure the chapters are good. So if I'm not happy, I wont post, Yeah? Yeah.

Special thanks for the criticism, Azamiko. I really appreciate people suggestiong things I can improve on. To you and the others, cookies are distributed. And a second chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own ghost hunt. Not a bit. Not the characters. Nothing. I don't own Air (or Air TV, whatever you think it is) However, I do own Noon, Yue and all the other characters I added in because they are mine : P

here it is: chapter 2!

* * *

2- 

Mai wrote the room number down for each room she entered. The temperatures were all about the same. None particularly low. Although the first floor and the top floor were a bit cooler than the middle. The first floor being cold would be because heat rose from it to the second, but the 3rd floor should have been warmer. There were about 6 guest rooms on each floor. Nobody really had a problem with her taking the temperature.

When Mai returned to her room/base, she set down the clipboard on Naru's desk and looked around. Nobody was there.

Now that she thought about, why were they here? She realized didn't know a thing about the case. Noon walked in with Ayako.

"But thats not that uncommon. I'm surprised he took the case. Why would you think that has to do with the paranormal?" Ayako said, seeming to be taking her anger out on Noon, when really she was angry that Naru accepted the case.

Noon shook her head. "No you don't quite have it, see. There are some other circumstances." Mai stood up, curious.

"Umm, can you explain what makes you believe there is a spirit here?" she asked, offering Noon a seat on her couch.

Noon took it. "Serra and Kris, the friends who opened this inn with me, they never had any problems getting along. But now I hear them argue every night. Nobody else mentions that they hear it, but they are speaking so fast I can't tell what they are saying even if I can hear it. They were so good with each other. They were going to get married." She said, looking downcast.

Ayako scoffed. "People get angry at each other all the time. That's not uncommon. You see, they probably had a fall out. And it doesn't seem like its that big a deal. Why on earth would Naru think that is spirit related?" Mai nodded. Noon put her hands to her forehead.

"No, it's not like that. You don't understand. They... both died 4 months ago. Serra was sick and her medication made her delusional, so she stabbed Kris and threw herself of the roof of the inn." Obviously, the wound in Noon was not healed, and Mai felt bad for thinking that it was just about fighting colleagues.

Ayako look downcast. "I'm sorry..." Mai thought for a moment.

"People are not always the same after they die. Maybe Kris is angry at Serra for killing him. There are a lot of things that could be the reason. Although that still doesn't sound very serious." Said Mai, frowning.

Noon nodded. "Maybe not yet, but the yelling gets worse every night. Last night I couldn't sleep. But what I am worried about is that the other day, a child was on the roof, about to jump off. One of my maids found him, as she had heard weird noises on the roof." She seemed a very strong person, holding back tears.

Mai could see this was hard for her. "It's okay. Sometimes we need to cry. You don't have to tell anymore."

Noon shook her head at this. "No. If anything will help at all, I must say. And crying will only worry the guests." She put on a delicate smile. "I really should be going now. I do rounds to make sure everyone is happy." she gave a slight bow, and walked out of the room.

Ayako looked around. "Where is everybody?" Mai shrugged.

As if on cue Masako opened the door, followed by everyone else. She spotted Mai's couch, and started walking towards it, but Mai sat down first, with Ayako. Naru picked up the clip board that Mai had left on his desk.

"Mai, did you notice anything about the temperatures?" he asked.

That was unexpected. Was it a test to see if she could pay attention to finer details? "Umm, the ones on the 1st floor and 3rd floor were generally a little lower than the middle. While it's not by much, the 3rd floor should have been warmer than the second, because the heat should have risen to it." Mai said.

Naru scrutinized the list, and nodded. "You're right. Good job. Now we come to another issue..." Naru kept talking but Mai didn't notice. Good job? Did he not notice that? Masako looked at Naru in disbelief too. Had he said good job to Mai? After all the stuff that Masako had done. She could see the spirits for heavens sake! Mai noted some numbers and she gets a 'Good job?'

Mai was in her own happy bubble. Naru was talking, and maybe others were listening, but right now, all she could do was smile to herself. _Gah... Why am I this happy? All he said was good job!_ she thought.

"Alright then Mai, you can talk to them." said Naru, and suddenly, she wished she was listening.

Mai's bubble grew thinner. "Umm, I was thinking about the temperatures trying to notice anything else, so can you explain what I have to do?" Naru shook his head and turned away.

"I need you to ask the people on the upper floor if we can put a camera in each of their rooms." she gasped. What kind of person would be okay with a camera in their room? Her bubble popped.

"But how can I manage that?" she asked.

"You managed to get into every room. I'm sure you'll figure this out too." he didn't turn around. Mai just stared.

She shook her head. "Naru." He turned, maybe because of how she said it. He had the most condescending expression she had ever seen. Nobody else could _ever _have had an expression like that. She needed to say something now. She held up her hand, her thumb and pointer finger in the shape of a circle. "See this bubble?" she said. He raised one eyebrow at this. What the heck was she doing?

"No. You don't see it. Because you just burst it." with that, she left. Fast.

Takigawa burst out laughing. "That was hilarious. I'm going to have to remember that one."

* * *

As Mai expected, nobody she found would allow a camera in their room. Not that she found all of them. 4 of the rooms on the upper floor had no one in them, so she left a pleading note. No matter how much she asked, no matter how she asked. Nobody was willing to accommodate them. 

Noon would be able to help. _Noon is doing rounds now, so she may be difficult to find..._thought Mai. But she went down to the 1st floor to look anyway. It was Mai's luck that she was there, talking with a teenager who was staying in the inn. The teen was probably a year younger than Mai. She had deep brown eyes, wore a burgundy t-shirt and off white capris. Her hair was dark black, and no longer than Mai's.

"Noon, can I speak to you?" Mai asked. The teenager turned too.

"Mai. Good timing. This girl says she could hear the arguing, and could actually understand some of it. You may want her to Tell Mr. Shibuya about it." The teen in question looked upset at being called 'girl'.

Mai nodded. "Well, that's an idea, but I also need to ask people if I can set up cameras on the 3rd floor, but nobody wants cameras in their room. However, we wont be able to have live feed from the rooms then. It will make it much harder to do our investigations." Noon nodded.

"I can deal with that. Let me talk to them. Meanwhile, take this girl to your base." Mai nodded.

The girl looked at Mai. "I'm Asuka Ai ." she bowed slightly.

"Mai Taniyama" Mai returned. "You probably won't like my boss. He's not very nice, so answer his questions. Answer what he asks, nothing more. He doesn't really want to listen to more."

Ai rolled her eyes. "Come on. You really think I haven't had to deal with difficult people before? I've probably dealt with 10 times worse."

Mai didn't respond. She still doubted Ai had met anyone like Naru before. And if she really had met people 10 times worse, Mai certaintly didn't want to meet them. She smiled knowingly, and led Ai to the base. However, the door was locked.

She was about to use the key to open it, but if she did, that would mean admitting she had it. And Noon had said it might be a better idea not to let Naru know. He would probably exchange keys with her forcibly, so that he could then have access to all the rooms.

And in that case, heaven help the guests.

She made do with knocking, and the door was promptly opened by Ayako, but only a little bit. Enough for her to poke her head out. "Mai. How goes the quest?" She noted the tag-along. "And who's this?"

She sighed. "Noon is going to talk to the guests. And this is Asuka Ai. She says she can understand what Kris and Serra are saying when they fight with each other." Ai repeated the same bow she gave to Mai. "Can you let us in?"

Ayako looked back into the room. "Naru said your not allowed back in until you have permission." She moved an arm out the door, and pushed Mai aside. "Come in Asuka-san."

Ai looked at Mai. "Woa. Maybe you were right. I'll be careful." Even if she didn't understand the situation, Ai began to get the idea that the boss was someone much worse than anyone else she had ever met. Including her twin brothers.

Ayako handed Mai the key to her room. "You can sit in there for a while, but if you go through any of our stuff..."

Mai pulled out her master key. "I have a master key so I can get in. Just don't tell anyone else I have one. Especially Naru."

"Are you stupid?" she shook her head and forced her key into Mai's hand. "They will know if you got into my room without the key. Run along now." Ai went in, and Mai walked over to Ayako's room.

Except now she knew why. There was a speaker on low volume. From it, she could hear exactly what was going on in the base. But that meant that at any time, somebody could be listening in on what was going on in there. She decided to keep that in mind. Mai laid back on the double bed, listening carefully.

* * *

The way Naru looked at the Ai, she felt very self conscious. He then looked to Masako, who was sitting on the couch now that Mai wasn't there. 

"Let our guest sit there Hara-san. I'd like to speak with her." Masako stood up and Lin pulled a chair opposite the couch and the table in front of it, so Naru could look at Ai. Masako glared at Ai, who started feeling even worse. _What an uninviting crowd._

Ayako saw this, and so introduced Ai. "This is Asuka-san. She says she can understand some of what Kris and Serra say to each other when they fight."

Takigawa, who had been leaning against a wall attempting to look really cool, looked over. "What are you talking about?" Masako was curious too, but she didn't want to look stupid, so she just pulled her hand to her mouth to hide her feelings. Lin and Naru knew of course, so they said nothing.

Ayako laughed. "Don't tell me you haven't even tried to figure out why we're here?"

Naru sighed. "Matsuzaki-san, thats enough for now." Ai wasn't sure about much anymore. Mai's advice came to mind. Just answer questions. Naru turned to Ai.

"Would you be able to recall generally what they said if you were asked right now?"

Ai thought carefully. He was asking if she could, not asking her _to. _It was a yes or no question. _Answer what he asks, nothing more. He doesn't really want to listen to more. _"Maybe some." She was about to say that it didn't really make sense from one person to the other, but he didn't ask why she could or couldn't.

He noted something down in his book, and looked back up, pausing before he chose to speak. "Would you be able to remember it word for word if you tried? Any part?"

She nodded. "A voice kept saying 'Thats not what happened'." She didn't understand how he could be just asking questions, yet how she was completely terrified of saying the wrong thing. Mai was right. In the way he chose to just pause to stare, he was terrifying. She had never met anyone that difficult. 10 times worse? Now she knew why Mai had smiled at that.

Again, he noted something. But he didn't stare at Ai this time. He looked at the two things he had written. "If you can remember, did it make sense in the context?"

Ai thought for a moment. "Most of the time, no. It was like whoever was saying it just said it when they didn't know what else to say." She winced inwardly. She hadn't intended to say more than the 1st sentence, but the rest just came out.

This time Naru looked up for a moment, and stared. He wrote a few things down. The silence would have given Ai a heart-attack had it not finally been broken.

"Thank-you Asuka-san. One more question. How many nights have you spent here?" he put closed his notebook and put it down.

"This was my first."

He thought for a moment. "If you hear it again tonight, please try to write down what you hear." he then looked around to the rest of the room. "That goes for everyone here. And someone tell Mai that." Ai stood up and bowed her head a bit. She headed fast towards the door. Someone locked the door behind her.

Mai stepped out of Ayako's room, hearing the conversation was over. Ai crumpled to the floor. "Asuka-san?" Mai ran up to her.

"Oh, that sounds so stuffy. Ai-chan is fine, okay?" she sighed. "I really thought you were exaggerating. He didn't say much but still." she stood up using Mai's arm.

Mai laughed. "I suppose that means that you haven't met someone 10 times worse, eh?"

Ai nodded. "If I had, I would have died. My heart almost stopped in there."

Ai decided to join Mai going to the 3rd floor to see if Noon made any progress. In fact, she got permission from every single one, by using the truth. Some of them were still upset about it, because they _were_ on vacation. Mai wanted to know what she had said to the guests.

Turned out Ai's room was on the 3rd floor anyway. After they said goodbye, Mai made her way back to the base with Noon.

Ayako opened the door again. This time she let them both in. "The people of the 3rd floor have all given consent to having a video camera in their room. And every one of them understands the value of having it there. I explained that with it, we would be able to tell if anything paranormal was happening. Without it, I said they would be putting themselves and the others around them in danger." Naru nodded.

"Mai, Takigawa-san, go set up the cameras now." Noon gave Takigawa another master key. Mai picked up a camera and a tripod. Takigawa followed suit.

Once they were in the hall, Noon took back the key. "Its my one spare. Mai has the other one since she has no room key."

"So thats how you got into all the rooms earlier." Takigawa said, surprised. Mai smiled, embarrassed. "And I take it li'l Naru doesn't know. And you want to keep it that way."

"Aww. Thanks Bou-san! I knew you wouldn't tell him." She laughed, nudging him with her free elbow.

He put on a fake serious face. "But it has a price. You can't come into my room between 10 at night and 10 in the morning." Mai promised and they set up the cameras, two at a time. It took only three trips but they had to get it in a good enough place that the guests wouldn't walk into them, and Lin could see what he wanted too. So it took a while. When Mai got back to the base with Takigawa, the door was unlocked. Ayako and Masako weren't there.

"They went for dinner. Its downstairs." Naru said as soon as they walked in, so Mai and Takigawa went for diner. It _was_ 6.

* * *

It was almost 10 when Mai opened the door to her room. Naru and Lin were at their respective work stations, working. Mai swore Lin's had to be the loudest keyboard she had ever heard. Naru was looking through some articles on his computer. There was enough screens to light the room as if it were day. 

She sat down on her couch and grabbed her bag. She went through it, looking for her poem. She dug through it for a moment. She had paper, but all of the sheets were blank. Where did she leave it?

She thought back to the office. The last time she knew she had it. She had pulled it out to try the second stanza...

Naru interrupted her yesterday, asking her to call everyone. It was probably on the floor somewhere. Oh what was the first stanza? She had been thinking about Air... thats right, wings. At that point it came strait back. She rewrote the first stanza on a fresh paper.

_If I had a pair  
__Of pretty white wings  
__I'd take to the sky every day_

What now? Truth be told she was tired. It had been a busy day. What was she thinking? But with all the light, she just couldn't go to sleep. Sure she could try...

Mai moved the table that was placed by the bed out of the way, unfolded the bed, and set up her sheets. She didn't notice Naru was watching. He heard the table moving and realized he hadn't considered the space needed to unfold the bed.

Mai was glad now that she had been allowed the couch rather than a conventional bed. This way, she got a double. Not even Naru got that. He and Lin each had a single. She was the only one with a double all to herself. Except maybe Ayako if she made Takigawa sleep on the floor. Mai assumed Masako would get the single.

_Now if they would just go to sleep... _Mai laid down and was going to go to sleep when she heard someone yelling. It was an argument. Naru didn't notice. Lin didn't either. Mai remembered Naru telling the group that if they heard it, to write down what they, if they could understand.

She picked up the pen she had used with her poem, and tired to write, but her eyes were like lead. She crammed her face into the pillow, and pulled a sheet over her head to block the light.


	3. Clouds 3

Aren't you guys lucky the batteries in my wiimote died? I was going to keep playing, but it was flicking on and off... Which means I have a good excuse to put down video games and work on this. Ahh well... I'm not actually that upset about it, yeah? So here we are. Chapter 3. 3 is my favourite number you know. But I don't want to write too much here. Because the more I write, the more it screws up the word count. Some stories look good and promising in length, then it turns out there's about about 500+ words at the beginning of each chapter, before the chapter!

Unfortunately I'm not the most creative person, for the reviewers, all I have are many thanks, cookies. Don't complain! They aren't the same kind as last time, yeah?

Disclaimer- Ghost hunt... still not mine. I guess I don't need to say anything else, eh?

PS- This was only 160 words

* * *

3- 

Mai's dream didn't feel like a dream. She still heard the yelling. She would have figured she hadn't got to sleep, if she hadn't been able to see through the walls.

Above her, she could see two people. _Kris and Serra maybe?_ she thought. Kris seemed to look very much like he was alive. He wore a pair of jeans, and a band t-shirt. He had a pale complexion, but compared to Serra, he was quite dark. Serra was very pale, white even. Her hair was also white. Mai had seen bleached hair, but this was more pale. Her eyes were red, and she looked very frail. She wore a blue camisole, and a navy knee length skirt. Around her waist was a grey sweatshirt.

Serra looked really happy. She said something that escaped Mai's ears. But Kris grabbed her and shook her. She pushed his arms off, and ran out of the room. Mai looked around. Where was Naru? Maybe he had been able to hear it.

Naru was on the roof. She spotted him looking through the walls at her. She hovered up to him. Serra was right after her.

"Naru..." She whispered. He pointed at the couple.

"Watch." he said. Mai turned to see. Now she could hear them.

Serra was smiling still. "I know! I can feel it! Won't you watch?" she twirled a bit.

Kris threw his arms around her. He held her, but not his tears which streamed down. "No! Calm down lets go back inside now!" She shoved him away and pulled a knife that was jammed in the folds of her sweatshirt.

"No! Nobody believes me! Nobody cares! And I know it! It has to be true!" She stepped out in rage, blindly flailing the knife. Her face was now demented with rage and tears. She caught Kris' arm with the blade.

Kris put his hand to the wound and covered it, trying to stop the flow. Mai gasped and reached to grab Serra's arm as she swung again. Naru held Mai back by her fore-arms.

"Serra... You can't actually..." but that was all he could say. Serra's knife found its way through him. She pulled it out, dropped it and stared for a moment, her smile playing about her lips again. Mai was horrified. She would have sunk to her knees had Naru not been still holding her arms at her sides.

She shook her head and looked up. "Nobody believed me. But I know truth from lies." Her smile was now just as crazed as her fury had been. She opened her arms and paused, as if waiting for something. She then lowered them slowly. Serra dashed of the side of the building.

For a moment she laughed, before gravity grabbed her and pulled her to the earth. Because Mai could see through the building, she was treated to the horrifying sight of seeing Serra falling. Mai turned to look into Naru's chest.

"No!" she cried. Naru put a hand on her head, and Mai woke up.

Her room was dim. It was 7:12, according to her watch. She thought about the dream... Serra hadn't even regretted killing Kris. She even laughed as she plummeted. Truly, she was out of her mind.

Mai looked around the room. The monitor were set dim, and both Lin and Naru were not around. She picked up her poem, and folded it several times before putting it into her bag again. Stretching, she went to her bathroom. There was a little small card, with the times meals were served during.

The meals, which it said were always complimentary, were only served during certain periods of time. Breakfast was from 7:30 until 11:00. Lunch was 12:00 through 3:00, and dinner was any time between 5:45 and 8:00. It also said that snacks were always available in the breakfast room, which Mai remembered Noon saying was right outside of their rooms. _Perfect! Snacking during the day will be much easier._

Mai washed her face, and stretched. It was their second day on the case. "Lets give it all we've got!" she said out loud, to her reflection. Her reflection smiled back.

Mai took a shower, and dried her hair. When she got out of the bathroom, Naru and Lin were going over the footage from last night. She was very glad she had put her clothes back on before walking out of the bathroom, rather than just using a towel.

"Good morning." She said, but niether looked up. She walked over to her couch, and removed the blanket and sheet. She folded it into place, and moved the table back. She grabbed some clothes from her bag, and retreated to the bathroom. Mai changed into a black skirt, and a beige t-shirt.

It was 7:34, so she left for breakfast.

* * *

After breakfast, Mai returned to the base/her room. It was locked. After knocking twice, and waiting 10 seconds, nobody came. 

She faced a situation. Should she wait, or use the key? The best option would be to stay out, but all her stuff was in there.

She slipped the key into the socket. Quietly she turned it, and opened the door. She pocketed the key, and closed the door behind her. As she walked into the room, she gasped. Naru was at his desk! As she was panicking, she tried to come up with an idea as to how she got in.

But she noticed that he had headphones on again. He wouldn't have heard.

"Ahh... Naru, I'm back from breakfast." She said, tapping him on the shoulder. There was no way he could miss how fast her heart was beating.

He turned and looked for a moment. Taking off the headphones, he spoke. "Mai, Since you're in here all night, I want you to watch the camera screens. Nothing happened last night, but that was only the first night. Tonight, after 22:00 and until 6:00 tomorrow, it will be your responsibility to watch the screens, and make logical descisions based on what you see"

She sighed. "Then am I allowed to sleep during the day tomorrow?" she had calmed down since he hadn't noticed (or at least hadn't pointed out) her nervousness.

"Even if I say no, you will." Mai took that as a yes, and sat down on her couch. Naru paused for a moment. _Didn't I lock the door?_ he thought, looking over towards it, before putting his headphones back on.

* * *

Masako entered the base at 9:45 with Ayako. "Takigawa is still at the breakfast. Naru, Lin, I suggest you get some now if you want any." Ayako said, nodding towards the pair. 

Lin looked at Naru, who nodded. He left, presumably for breakfast, Naru on the other hand? "Mai, tea." Mai who was daydreaming on the couch stood up at the mention of her name.

"Wha?" she gasped. Masako laughed behind a raised hand. Her short hair was all out of place. After a few moments patting it into place Mai sat back down, forgetting what had caused her to stand up so violently.

Naru rolled his eyes. "Mai, tea" he repeated monotonously.

"Ahh. Okay" She stood up a little less quickly and grabbed a pouch full of tea bags from her bag, and went to the door. But paused there. "Does anyone else want something?" she asked politely. Masako shook her head. Her hand hadn't moved, but she had sat down on Mai's couch.

"No thanks." said Ayako. Naru cleared his throat, and Mai went into the breakfast room.

Lin and Takigawa were the only ones in it at that point. Lin was eating something, but Mai couldn't tell what it was. Takigawa had a large plate of the same pancakes that Mai had had. She knew they were fantastic.

"I swear!" Takigawa was saying to Lin, who wasn't paying attention. "Even if it's my 5th plate, I could eat 5 more!" Mai shook her head, and walked to the counter which the kitchen was visible through. Yue was in there, cooking more pancakes. She also had bacon going on the side.

"Yue, do think I could come in there to make tea for my boss?" Mai asked. Takigawa noticed her, but had his mouth too full to say anything.

Yue turned and smiled. "I guess you can. Just as long as you don't try to mess with what I'm trying to cook here." Mai nodded and opened the door into the kitchen.

Yue nodded towards a cupboard above the griddle she was using. "In there are the pots. You're going to have to boil water with one of them, because we don't have a kettle."

Mai grabbed down a pot, and poured lukewarm tap water into it. As she was waiting for it to heat, she turned to Yue. "Do you cook all the meals?"

Yue shook her head with a smile. "Nope. There's four of us maids who cook. I do breakfast, The top floor maid, Asa does lunch, and the bottom floor maid, Sayo, does dinner. Hana stays in here most of the day, making things for people if they come in looking for a snack."

Mai nodded, and continued to stare at the water. By the time it heated enough, there were more people in the breakfast room, and Yue was working faster than Mai would have thought possible. She was doing 4 times as many things at once as Mai could do. She did it smiling too. She kept a cheerful face all the while.

Mai found 2 cups, and poured the water into them. She steeped the tea for a minute, and added a spoon of sugar to Naru's. She always did. The first time she had ever been asked to get tea, she had no idea how he liked it. At that point she always added one spoon of sugar to hers, so thats what she did. She wondered if he knew. She had stopped putting it in her own though.

She took a sip of hers, so she could tell which one didn't have sugar when she got back to the room. When she got to the door, she found both her hand were full, so she tapped her head on the door. Ayako opened it, and Mai passed her the more full tea cup. "Give that to Naru." Ayako did so. Mai tasted hers to make sure it was the right one.

Naru didn't look as Ayako put the tea on his desk. Masako was sitting comfortably on Mai's couch, next to Takigawa. Lin and Naru were at their work stations. Ayako took the extra chair, so Mai was left standing.

Naru turned to address the group. "Hara-san, do you sense anything?" She nodded, and sat forward.

"There are two spirits here who I feel much more than anything else. But I haven't actually seen them yet. And last night, I could hear them fighting, but I could not understand what they were saying." She said frowning. "I'm sorry."

Naru nodded, and turned to Ayako. "Could you hear them?"

Ayako nodded. "Same thing though. It was too fast and weird. I heard it, but not what it was."

Naru looked at Takigawa. "And you?"

"Not a thing. It was really quiet last night. I stayed up late, but there was nothing." He thought for a moment. "Only females can hear it?"

Naru turned to Mai. "Could you tell what they were saying?" he asked.

Mai thought. "I could. If I had listened a bit more I probably would have been able to tell you exactly what they said. I was even going to write it down, but I was tired. It was late for me, and I wanted to sleep." Masako looked upset at Mai. _Why could Mai understand what the spirits were saying? Ayako and I both talked about it, and tried to work it out! Neither of us just fell asleep!_

Naru nodded and thought. "Then tonight, at 22:00, Get Asuka-san to stay with you, and try together to piece together the conversation on paper, while you watch the screens."

Mai frowned. "She's younger than me, and she's on vacation. You'd ask her to do work?"

Naru wasn't paying attention. "Hara-san, I'd like you to go through the building with Takigawa-san. Go outside first though. It looks like rain, and I want you to look around the property. Ayako, go through the inn, and talk to all the female guests, and workers. Ask which ones heard it, and how clearly. Get their names, and ages. Lin, go with her."

Naru turned back to his desk. He put his headphones around his neck. As the others filed out, Mai stood waiting.

"I can't ask her. It's not like you'd understand, but that's very impolite." She complained.

Naru turned to face her impatiently. "Go ask Asuka-san."

Mai couldn't believe him. "No. You have no idea what we have to do to put up with you. I won't ask her to as well."

Naru turned away again, then said, "Everybody else is working now. Go, then you can rest or whatever for a while."

Mai had lost. Not that she expected that one time would make him change or realize anything. People can dream, right?

Mai left and went to go talk to Ai. On the 3rd floor, she thought back. _What door did Ai enter?_ She went to the 2nd door on the left side of the hall and knocked. "Ai-chan?"

Ai opened the door. "Mai-chan!" she then laughed. "Our names are pretty similar, no?" Mai wasn't smiling. "Did something happen?"

Mai bowed her head and clamped her hands together. "Can you please spend the night awake with me? Na... I mean Shibuya-san wants us to stay up and document what the voices say."

Ai poked Mai, who looked up. "I forgot about that last night. I'm sorry. So I'll definitely help you tonight." Mai gave her a big hug.

"You're such a good friend!" Mai said, giving her a patronizing pat on the head.

"Nice enough that I'll forgive you for that." laughed Ai. "What time do you want me to come down?" she said brushing a hand through her now mussed hair.

Mai thought. For a moment. She had gone to bed around 10:00 the previous night. Oh... what time is that in 24 hour time? 22:00. Thats about when she heard the voices then. "At about 10, okay? Maybe quarter to."

Ai nodded. "I think I'll get some rest now then. See you tonight."

"Bye!" Mai went back downstairs. She got to her room and found it was locked. She knocked twice, and waited 10 seconds. Just to be on the safe side, she knocked again, but no one came. She pulled out her key.

* * *

After Mai left, Naru took off his headphones and started pacing. It was quiet, finally. He looked around. 

Earlier that morning was still bugging him. He knew he had locked that door. _How had she gotten in?_ Then he had an idea. He went back to the door and locked it. At Lin's desk, he watched the camera in Ai's room.

Ai looked up, and opened the door. Mai was there. She didn't look happy. She bowed her head and pleaded Ai for something. Ai smiled. Mai hugged her, and patted her on the head. Mai then left down the hallway heading back towards the base.

Naru stood up and went to the door. After a few moments, There were 2 knocks. She paused outside for 10 seconds, then she knocked again. Naru looked through the little hole on the door to see her fumbling with a key. She was about to put it in the door.

Naru opened the door and caught her wrist. "Ah!" she exclaimed, as he removed the key from from her hand, and pulled her in. She landed on the ground, still shocked.

"Give that back! Thats my key!" Naru ignored her. He pulled out his own key.

After a few moments examining them he spoke. "You were given a master key?"

Mai stared intently at the one that belonged to her. Just in case Naru tried to give back the wrong one. Lucky thing too, because he then went to his desk and pulled out another key. She dashed up behind him, eyes on her key. He now had 3 keys on the desk.

"What are you doing?" He examined the keys, and started picking them up and putting them back down random-ly. After a bit, he removed one key.

"You can pick one of those. Thats the one you get to keep." he said, with a smirk on his face. "But first you have to turn around in a circle."

Mai did so as fast as she could, exasperated with his game. "All right." she was about to take the one that she thought was the master key when she stopped.

"The game of wits has begun" he said, sitting back. Mai thought for a moment. Without a doubt, the one in his hand was his room's key. Because if it was the master key, that meant that if she picked his room's key, she could get in to his room. Which she could use to her advantage for some sort of scheme.

The key she thought was the master key was on the left.

When she turned in a circle, he could have switched them. But did he expect her to think that he switched them? So was the trick that he didn't switch them, expecting her to think that he did switch them? Or, did he really switch them, thinking that she would think that he would think that she would think that he wouldn't switch them, because she thought he would?

Naru smirked at the puzzlement on her face. Nobody really knew how to approach this kind of thing. He had simply moved his arm towards the table while she turned. Neither key had moved.

Mai thought that the second option was unlikely. Nobody, even Naru would think through it that much, right? She reached out to grab the left key. Naru grabbed her wrist.

"Is that your choice?" Mai, who was so sure that she was right, thought again. Would he grab her wrist to psych her out, and make her pick the other one? Or to make her think he was psyching her out to pick the other one?

But on all tests in school, she had always done better when she didn't second guess. She grabbed the key. "Yeah." he let her take it. "Which one is it?"

Naru stood up. "I don't know if you really used logic, or you just guessed." he shrugged

Did that mean that she got it? She looked at it, wishing she had paid more attention to it before she lost it. But hey. It wasn't between 10 at night, and 10 in the morning. She went to Takigawa, Ayako and Masako's room. The key slipped into the door and unlocked it. She got it right!

* * *

It was 12:30, and Mai was back in the base after lunch. It turned out that Asa was an amazing cook, so her lunch was great. All she asked for was 'a sandwich or something'. She got something amazing on bread. Back in the base, Ayako and Lin had set down their findings interviewing people on Mai's table, for her to sort through. While Ayako was looking for something in her purse, Lin was at his desk looking at the monitors. Masako was talking to Naru about what she felt, and Takigawa was leaning against the wall again. 

Mai sat down on her couch, and started to go through it. It seamed anyone between the ages of 27 and 8 could hear it. The ones between 15 and 17 could understand it if they wanted to. She noted this and looked up. How long could Masako talk to Naru? Honestly it couldn't have been that interesting, could it?

"Naru..." she called. Masako turned with the iciest look she could give, without changing her pleasant expression. Only Mai, who met her eyes could see it.

Naru looked up at her, and Masako's spell was broken. "It seems that only people 15 through 17 can understand it. People above 27 and below 8 can't hear it at all." She said, looking back at the page, doing one last check. Naru looked at his notes. Then at his computer screen. Masako looked up. Females 15, 16, and 17 could understand it? _What is different about me then? Does it have something to do with my abilities? Why does Mai understand?_

"Matsuzaki-san, Takigawa-san, and Hara-san, you may go have lunch now. Lin if you wish, you may too. Mai, you can rest so you won't fall asleep while on watch" Naru stood up and left. Every one except Lin, who stayed to watch the monitors, left after Naru. Mai started to move the table out of the way, but didn't bother. She pulled out her pillow, and rested like Naru suggested.


	4. Clouds 4

Ah... sorry for taking this long... my new distraction is awesome, but theres nothing I hate more than slow updates... Which means lucky you guys shouldn't expect the chapters to be any more that3 to 4 days apart. The difference, I'll be doing it later at night, meaning I have less adept fingers, yeah? --- I just noticed how often i put that in... a 'yeah?' at the end of sentences... I guess it comes from the odd speech pattern I've picked up recently. Its a bit tricky not to use it in the story...

ahh, and I'm leaving for a two week vacation in a week. I intend to have it finished before I go, but I don't want to rush to the finish just because of that.

Aww... You guys make me happy. I love reading reviews... I figure yer bored of cookies.. but too bad. Anywho! Here... is chapter 4

Disclaimer- I don't own ghost hunt

* * *

4- 

Mai didn't remember having a dream that time. She remembered falling asleep, but then she remembered waking up. Nothing between.

But when she did wake up, it was a good time for diner. Her watch proclaimed 6:12. After a slight fuss with her hair, she looked in the mirror, and deemed herself suitable to leave the base. Mai wondered where Noon was.

On her way to the bottom floor, she spotted Noon talking with one of the guests who was heading for diner. Noon nodded, and they parted, so Mai decided to talk to her.

"Mai!" Noon said, seeing her. "I haven't seen you for a bit. You know what? It wasn't just me! I talked to a bunch of people today. Even my maids didn't tell me because they didn't want me to worry about them." She smiled "How can I be of help?"

Mai thought of the dream she still could remember. What was odd about it? "Umm, Serra. When she was alive, was she very pale?"

Noon nodded. "How did you know? She never was in pictures, because of her condition..." she trailed off.

Mai's ears perked up. "You said she was sick, and that her medication made her delusional. Can you tell me more about that?"

"Serra was albino. There was a doctor over here developing treatment to help prevent them from getting skin cancer. So Kris and I moved out here with her. However, she had a reaction with one of the components in the original treatment, and she was put on something to counteract the side effects. But this led to..." Mai already knew what happened after there, so she put up a hand to stop Noon.

"Thank you. It makes more sense now. Now if you don't mind, I'm hungry." Mai said, spying the doors to the dinner room. Noon stepped aside, and Mai went in.

* * *

At 9:50, or 21:50, Mai and Ai knocked on the door to the base. Masako let them in, then quickly returned to sitting on Mai's couch. Ai nervously fidgeted with her hands behind her back, and looked at the ground. Naru and Lin were at their workstations. Ayako and Takigawa were nowhere to be seen. 

Naru looked over towards where Mai and Ai were. Ai fought herself and managed to bring her hands to fists at her sides. "We're here." said Mai, unnecessarily.

Naru turned back to his screen. "I can see that." Mai rolled her eyes, and sat down on the table. Ai followed her like a stray puppy.

"Hey, Masako..." Mai started. Masako was not expecting to be talked to. "Have you seen Serra and Kris?"

Masako paused before answering, as if deciding if it was worth her time. "Yes, I did, but niether one wanted to talk to me. And Serra looks..."

"Albino." Mai said, assuming Masako was startled by the pale skin and red eyes.

Masako was startled. "You're... right! Did you see them too?" Mai nodded.

"Last night, I remember seeing Kris and Serra on the roof. She was completely out of her mind, and kept saying something along the lines of knowing something to be true. After stabbing Kris, she just jumped off. Kris spent the entire time trying to tell her she was wrong." Mai thought carefully. What were his exact words? _You can't actually..._ but Serra stabbed him before either of them had said anything more useful.

Naru turned his attention to Mai and Masako. "If you dream something significant to the case, tell me next time." Mai frowned. She hadn't told him... _oh oops._ _But if he's not going to say please, I don't think I will._

"Anyway." said Masako, particularly happy at Naru's discontent with Mai, "I believe, I will do as Matsuzaki-san and Takigawa-san have done, and go to bed. Since I wont be helpful with decoding the words..," with this, she stood up and bowed to Naru and Lin. She exited quietly, and the room was suddenly uncomfortably quiet. Mai's watch said 9:54.

Anxious to get rid of it, Ai stood up and stretched. "Well, if its alright, we can take over now." She said, hoping to get rid of the cause of her almost-heart-attack.

Lin looked to Naru, who responded. "Alright." Naru shut off his computer and left immediately

Lin set up a microphone. "If something potentially supernatural happens that you don't know how to deal with, this is connected to our room." Mai nodded, and he followed Naru. Ai sat down in Lin's chair. Mai moved Naru's to the position next to Ai's, and fished out two pens and a bunch of paper.

"Well," Ai said. "We've started."

Mai was wondering if anything interesting would happen. There were 8 screens. 6 guest rooms, 1 for the hallway, and 1 storage room. Mai got bored immediately. _It's going to be impossible to do this at night! Sure during the day, you might see someone move around once or twice... but at night? _She didn't hear Ai.

"Mai-chan?"

Mai snapped out of it."Oh! Yeah! Well, lets work hard!" she said repeating what she had said earlier that morning to the mirror. Funny how she didn't do much, yet that still felt like that happened ages ago. "When the voices start, I'll write down what Serra says, you write down what Kris says."

Ai nodded, then looked at the screen for the camera in the hallway. "Wouldn't it make more sense if you had a camera in the hallway on each floor, so if someone uses the stairs, you can tell if they go up or down? As in roof or middle floor?"

"Hmm." Mai thought, staring with unfocused eyes at the screens. "I guess, but it also depends on how many cameras we want to potentially put in danger. Naru has insurance on them," she growled internally, thinking of the time she found out about that, "But they are special cameras. He'd have to order them again, and who knows how long it would take to arrive."

Ai nodded, and stared at the cameras. Mai checked her watch. It was only a few minutes until the voices would start. The silence was actually quite nice this time. Unanimously, both people in the room decided to keep it. It was different from the silence that came from not not knowing what to say. This silence was the kind where no words were necessary. Mai enjoyed company, Ai felt like she was helpful.

When the voices started, Mai immediately sat up and grabbed a pen. She looked at the screens. All screens were the same as they had been moments ago. There was no sign of any sort of activity yet. But her look was superficial. She turned her head down to the paper, and began to write

"I'm not sorry. There's nothing for me to apologize for. Maybe if you'd have been thinking, you wouldn't have followed me to the roof." Serra said. Mai could hear it very clearly, as if they were in the room right above the Base.

"Mai..." started Ai, while Mai still wrote furiously.

But Kris started talking, so Ai picked up her pen, and started transcribing. "Look, it's not even the apology that I want. I just know that you've calmed down if you can apologize. I can't rest peacefully until I know you're calm, and can move on too."

"What is it?" Mai asked, while Kris spoke.

Serra started again, so Mai wrote. "Liar! You still don't believe me! If you had been thinking, you would have realized I was unstable, and you would have been on the ground to catch me, rather than dead."

"the room above us' camera!" Ai said pointing to the camera screen.

"And I was supposed to know you had a knife? I was supposed to know what was going to happen in advance?" Kris started losing his temper. Mai looked at the camera. It was Ai's room, and the temperature was dropping. Though not fast. Mai assumed that the more tempered they got, the colder the room. But still, the temperature was going down slowly. And it was hardly more than 2 degrees in total. But that was too fast for a temperature change with no catalysts. "I just need you to calm down, but it's always the same thing with you, isn't it?" Mai thought for a moment. If the spirits' presence was causing the temperature change, wouldn't it be more than 2 degrees? Wouldn't the temperature go to near freezing?

Serra's voice grew louder as well. "Ahh... That's not what happened..." It sounded like Serra had no idea what to say. Just like what Ai had thought before, when she was talking to Naru.

Kris was not happy that she didn't have something better to say. "That doesn't make any sense! Talk strait! If it weren't for you..."

"Oh, so it's my fault now?" The tone reminded Mai of how Serra sounded as she was slicing out at Kris in the dream. "Is it really my fault, considering I wasn't in the right mind?"

"Yes! It is! Suddenly I get the idea that you knew full well what you were doing when you stabbed me. Wouldn't it be easy to use the meds you were on as the fall back, to justify killing someone?" Mai remembered how Serra's mood swings were drastic, and sudden. There was no way she was actually like that. Mai didn't want to listen to any more.

But this was her job. She had already been allowed to sleep, so quitting would be like getting pay in advance, then not doing the work. Serra continued. "Thats not what happened." It was a bit quieter.

"Oh thats not what happened? Well explain to me. Because even after all this time, I don't understand still." Kris got louder.

"eh... Thats not what happened!" Serra said. There was silence, and Mai looked at the camera in Ai's room. It hadn't gotten any coder since the last time she looked.

"Hey, I don't think they are in your room. They are probably on the roof above your room. I really wish I'd asked Masako where she saw them."

The voices didn't return all night. Even the temperature went back to what it had been before they started hearing the voices. Ai fell asleep around 11:30, So Mai put her on the couch, with a pillow.

Nothing happened at all. Mai almost fell asleep, but she stayed awake somehow. At a few points, she debated going back to her bag, and grabbing her poem. But she felt like she would miss something important.

So when Naru walked in with Lin at exactly 6:00 am the next morning, she was still awake with her eyes glued to the screens. She didn't even notice until Naru spoke up. "You're done for now."

She was to tired to be surprised by suddenly hearing a voice. "Yeah, okay." She stood up and stretched. Ai was still on her couch, so she curled up in a corner using the blanket she was given and fell asleep with her bag as a pillow.

Naru grabbed the two pieces of paper. One was labeled Serra, the other Kris. He looked over both of them. To him, it didn't look like the end. It looked like it should have continued, at least till the spirits worked out a sort of semi truce. Still, after 4 months maybe they were giving up. But for now, the people who were writing it down were asleep.

* * *

When Mai woke up, she was on her couch. It was actually only 9:15. She didn't feel tired at all. _Maybe yesterday's rest paid off!_ She stood up, and realised she was acctually tired, as her head spun wildly, and she had to choke back a yawn. Naru and Lin were at their respective stations working, Ayako was looking at a sheet of paper, and Takigawa and Masako were elsewhere. 

With a stretch, she went to the bathroom, and washed her face. After stretching a bit, she turned to the mirror again, She was about to repeat what she said the previous day, and to Ai when they started their shift, but this time there were others who would hear.

_Lets work hard again today!_ she thought, just to herself, and to the person on the other side of the mirror. It was a new day, the third day on the case.

Mai walked back into the base, and got a change of clothes. They were wrinkled from her leaning on her bag, but she put them on anyway. Who cared... right? The thought that Naru might think poorly of it crossed her mind. And while on the surface she didn't really care what he thought about it, or anything else, She did care.

She kicked herself for thinking like that. _Honestly! I don't care! It doesn't matter! If its an embarrassment to him, then whatever. Besides, it's an inn. Who's going to think bad of it?_ She eyed an iron that was on the wall, the ironing board next to it. Mai had never really learned how to use one, so she tended to avoid clothes that required it. But the shirt was so cute, and it looked nice too, so she had to get it.

She smoothed out some of the wrinkles on her top. It was cream with a very loose pink floral print. The neck line, the sleeves, and the bottom had a brown trim. The fabric was a cheaper version of satin, so the wrinkles refused to leave. She also had a pair of cream capris. They were made of a more rugged material, but they still had creases.

Looking in the mirror, Mai felt fine. She looked nice, even with all the angled wrinkles, so she stepped out of the bathroom, and put away her clothes that she wore the previous night.

"Mai." Called Naru when she sat down on the couch. "Hara-san told me that even if she couldn't understand the voices, they ended much sooner than they did yesterday. Is what you have written down the full extent of their conversation from last night?"

Mai took a moment. She did remember it ending a bit abruptly. "Yeah. I thought it was weird because of what Noon and Ai had said. But that's what happened, so if you want us to do that again tonight..." She stifled a yawn, to try to prove that she was completely awake, but didn't succeed. The yawn came out anyway. "... I will do so."

Naru didn't respond, so Mai went to the room across the hall for breakfast. Similar to the day before when she went to get Naru's tea, Takigawa had a huge plate of food, and no other guests were in the room. Yue was sitting at a nearby table resting.

"Morning Bou-san, Yue." She said and sat down next to Takigawa. He some sort of sound that probably meant hello, but Yue stood up and came over.

"Can I get you something to eat? She asked, prepared to make anything.

Mai shook her head. "I'll steal off his plate." she said pointing to Takigawa who probably hadn't heard because he hadn't reacted to this statement.

Mai grabbed strawberry. Apparently Takigawa was okay with it, because again he didn't react. Mai ate some of whatever it was. It was good, but she had never seen it before. There were fruits, and weird square shaped recesses in some kind of dough, and lots of whipped cream all mixed together.

"What is this?" she asked. Takigawa was still eating, but Mai had her fill.

Yue laughed. "Don't tell me you've never had a waffle before?" Mai looked at a bit more carefully, and realised that it really was a waffle. She had had a waffle before. It just didn't have as much stuff on it.

"Best. Waffle. Ever." Said Takigawa, done.

Mai nodded. " I have to agree. The last time I had a waffle it tasted nowhere near as good as this." She said smiling. "you must be a genius."

Yue accepted the praise with a slight blush. "Oh, well, thank you. If you're still here tomorrow I'll make you one of your own."

Mai nodded and left the breakfast room. Takigawa joined her. Everyone else was already in the base when they got there.

It was time for the jobs. Upon seeing that the final members of the team had arrived, Naru turned to hand out assignments. Mai felt pretty good. She figured she'd get to sleep because of what she had done overnight.

"Hara-san, I'd like you to attempt to talk to Kris, then try Serra. If they won't talk, just stay nearby them. Takigawa-san, I'd like you to use the list of people who could hear Serra and Kris properly, and ask them if it was shorter than before to make sure. Matsuzaki-san, I want you to talk to those who said they could hear it, but not understand. Mai you will stay here and organize some information I have about the previous owners of the house," with this he tapped a pile on his desk, "and will collect the information from Takigawa-san and Matsuzaki-san when they report in each half hour. Also, watch the screens." Naru turned back to his computer for a moment, then returned to the group. "Lin and I will be back within 3 or 4 hours." They started to leave.

"Ahh, Naru?" asked Mai. He stopped for a moment. "Where are you going?"

"Brown-san said he's feeling better and would like to help." Naru and Lin left.

Mai sighed, and looked at the sheets. He didn't say how he wanted them organized. He didn't remember his promise either. "Ohh, I'm so tired. He said..." but she stopped. What _did_ he say?

'_Even if I say no, you will.'_

He did not promise to let her sleep. How did that work out? It sounded like it meant he would give her the chance to...

_Even if I say no, you will._

No, it didn't. He meant that, like usual, she would fall asleep without permission regardless. Which meant that this would be a regular day, and if she fell asleep, it wouldn't make a difference that she had stayed up the previous night.

"Mai?" Ayako's voice brought her back to the surface. "He said what?"

Mai frowned. "He said that I would still have to work today, and sleeping was no more allowed today than any other day." She managed to stop the oncoming yawn, and took the papers she was to sort to the table next to her couch.

What a great day.

_Lets work hard again today!_ She thought back to that. Its so easy to say something like that, before you find out what you have to do.


	5. Clouds 5

OOKAY! So unfortunately, even though I wanted to finish before vacation, call of video games/anime were too strong. Which means that because I intended to update another time before I left, but didn't, there are TWO updates today. Thaz right. Give me at most half an hour to finish editing the next chapter, and bang. Hmm... Lyle... uummmmm... nothing ...nothing... disregard that.

And those who pointed out Takigawa's actions/lack there of? Come on, ye of little faith! I know what I'm doing... yeah?

Disclaimer- I don't own Ghost hunt, Or the song Tori no Uta. (Sigh) I don't own anything like that at all... However, I does own the characters I created, ie Noon, Yue, Ai, Asa, Hana and the like. (Note: The lack of proper grammer here is completely intentional. I swears.)

Now... Chapter 5

* * *

5- 

Naturally, Mai didn't stay awake. She did manage to get the documents in order, and tried to work on her poem for a minute. She figured sorting it by the year the events in them occurred in would be the smartest way to do it. They were all about odd events, but none of them seemed to have anything to do with the current case. Although, if you looked at them, all the occurrences had deaths related to the building/grounds. What had happened to all the spirits from those deaths? Did they really just all move on?

It seemed so, as Masako hadn't pointed out any other spirits. But still, there were at least 7 deaths.

At least, Mai would have thought that if she wasn't too tired to care. No more than 20 minutes after being left alone, she was dead asleep. Though it was odd. Besides when she had first woken up that morning, she didn't remember being tired at all. Maybe a yawn here and there but still...

Mai was sitting on the roof, looking at Serra. She just stood there. Mai was about to talk when Serra turned. "Last night.. you were listening."

Mai was surprised. It wasn't the same thing as normal. Usually she was just a spectator to the spirits. And... her eyes were violet, leaning towards red. The other time then, when she saw her stab Kris..? "Serra? Aren't your eyes red?" she asked, not knowing if it was polite, but still curious.

Serra looked at her. "I wore red coloured contacts when I was alive. Now that I have done you a courtesy, you'll gladly answer my question, no?"

Mai was still in a bit of state of shock. She looked for the Naru that always showed up in her dreams. He was nowhere to be found. "Ahh... um.. yes. But it wasn't because I really wanted to..." Serra cut her off.

"Oh really? You didn't want to? Were you not in control of what you were doing?" She was still volatile, apparently.

"Is that why you stopped early?" asked Mai. Probably not smart, but she had to know.

Serra lifted Mai off her feet. "Oh indeed. Really, do you think you'd want some one chronicling your arguments?" Serra shook her head, and let go of Mai's arm. "I don't care why you did it, but if you do again..."

Mai didn't know what to do. Naru probably was going to ask her to spend the night up again, because they hadn't gotten all the information they could have. If that were the case... "I'm sorry but it's not my choice! I have to do what my boss says because thats the only way I'll be able to make enough money to live and such! If I can't just follow his instructions, and help like that, I'd be useless!" Mai cried out, nursing her arm. Serra had a strong grip... for a dead person.

"Sure, use the one thing I can never have again... A life." She shook her head again. "You... How could you think that that would actually help you in this situation? If you are not out of here in one day, I will personally see to it that you taken out of here in an ambulance."

With that, she took a step to the edge of the roof, about to jump again. She paused, just like she did the other time Mai watched her, and opened her arms. Mai could have sworn she saw something this time, if only for a brief moment. A flash of something. But just like the last time, when she jumped, she fell right down. This time though, Mai could see her land softly on her feet on the ground.

_If you can do that, it must be nice to be a spirit,_ she thought, before looking around again. Usually, after she had gotten the message, she would wake up. But still she stood on the odd blue-print version of the house. Looking around her, she could see two people.

Masako looked like she was talking to someone. Mai walked until she was just above where Masako was. It was Kris. He wasn't really responding, but Masako kept trying. Mai wanted to be closer. She wanted to hear. She found herself floating through the blue-print walls, and was in the room. Kris looked at her for a moment, and Masako's eyes widened.

"Mai? What are..." she stopped, and looked at Kris. Bringing her hands to her mouth, she froze. "Are you..."

Mai shook her head. "I'm sleeping. But... I was just talking to Serra on the roof." She pointed back in the direction from which she came.

At this Kris looked up. "You talked to her?" Mai nodded. "Was she okay? Did she threaten you? Where did she go? She refuses to talk with me at all until night. She said it was more dramatic then." He shook his head. Mai thought it very similar to the way Serra had. _These two must have been very alike before coming to Japan..._Mai thought.

Masako was beyond words at this point. Mai however laughed. "I'm sorry, but she wanted to make it more dramatic? Well... She seems much calmer during the, day, but she..."

Kris was no longer calm. "You mean... you were one of the ones listening in yesterday? Why... No I don't care, if you do that again..." he left the threat open ended, and left.

Masako was a little bit stunned and surprised. "Mai, where are you right now?"

Mai pointed because she could still see through the walls. Masako looked confused. "Oh, right. I'm in the base. I thought I was just sleeping."

"Well..." started Masako, turning to the door, "go back now. It could be dangerous to stay as you are now."

Mai was confused. Masako was concerned? That was certainly... a surprise. Mai frowned, and turned to look more closely at the base. She could see Ayako and Takigawa standing near her couch. Ayako was poking Mai's body. But Naru had told them to check in ever half hour... meaning at least half an hour had passed?

Mai floated there, and listened in. "Its already been more than an hour. Why should we just let her sleep?" Said Ayako, grumbling slightly. She once again resumed with the poking.

Takigawa caught her arm. "She was up all night. Even if Naru says she shouldn't sleep on the job, she has already put in her time for today." Ayako struggled a bit with his grip. "At least, I think so."

"Stupid monk..." She growled. He let go, and Masako entered the room.

"Ah, Mai..." Masako said, looking over where Mai was currently hovering.

Ayako followed Masako's gaze. "What are you talking about? Mai's over here."

"Oh... right. Nothing." She said, looking over to where Mai's body was laying asleep.

Takigawa frowned looking to where Mai really was. MAi was sure he could see her. He scrutinized the area, but apparently couldn't see anything. "But still, you know? It's weird. You'd think that with all the noise Ayako's been making, Mai'd be up right away. And after all that poking and shaking, its a miracle she's not awake." Ayako looked like she wanted to hit him. Really badly. But she refrained, and just settled for a very dark look.

Masako looked over where Mai hovered, ignoring Ayako. "Yes it is odd." Takigawa noticed her looking there, and tried to see if there was anything again. "Mai?" Masako called, looking at the place where Mai was on the couch. Mai felt like Masako was actually calling her over, so she hovered over nearby. Masako knelt down by the couch.

"Ehh?" Mai's body said quietly. Its eyes fluttered a bit. Mai gasped. So did Masako.

Ayako looked confused, although for a different reason than Masako and Mai. "How did that happen?" Mai's body sat up, and yawned. Masako knew it wasn't Mai. But if she said something, its not like anyone could help anyway. If it was a spirit, Ayako and Takigawa couldn't do anything without damaging Mai's body.

Mai was horrified. "Masako! Tell one of them to help! I don't care if i get a bunch of scars, or if it really hurts! Please, just get one of them to do something!" Mai had no idea how much it would hurt, but anything would be better than someone masquerading as her. So any amount of pain was worth it.

But right as Masako was about to say something, Mai felt as if she opened her eyes, and was staring at Masako kneeling in front of her.

"Ah!!" She shrieked, and jumped back, hitting her head on the wall. She rubbed her head, then examined the weird looks she was getting. Masako didn't know for sure that it was Mai, but that definitely seemed like the sort of thing Mai would do.

"Mai?" Ayako was confused. "Are you okay?" Mai nodded, and rubbed her head. Something still didn't feel right anyway. As if she had that other person still just below the surface. But as long as it didn't come out, it was okay.

"What time is it?" Asked Mai, running a hand to fix up her hair She noticed her poem on the ground just a little out from underneath the couch.

Ayako checked her watch. "Around noon." Mai thought of Noon. Then lunch.

"I'll be back." she said, and headed across the hall for another sandwich. She got two this time, because she was feeling particularly hungry. But when she got back, Takigawa claimed one.

"Now my plan surfaces! I had no idea what you got for lunch yesterday, but it looked good. So I figured you'd get another one. And because I was so kind and shared breakfast, you'll return the favor right? Without griping?" He said, nudging her, jokingly. She wasn't completely silent, but she did him the second sandwich, suddenly glad that she had decided to get two. Even if she would only have the pleasure of devouring one.

"That wasn't very nice." She muttered as he accepted the sandwich.

"Well, Thank you anyway." Takigawa proceeded to eat.

* * *

Mai was once again alone in the Base. Unless the silent Masako actually counted as company. She pulled out her poem from under the couch, and looked at it. She had really lost the feelings that she had when he was writing it. 

A melody floated around in her head... Oh what was it?

_kieru hikoukigumo oikakete oikakete_

The song! That would help! Humming the melody, she drew spirals on her page. She wanted the poem to rhyme. Always preferring rhyming poems, she wanted it to be a poem she really liked.

"Mai, please stop that." Mai cringed. Masako was certainly the last person she wished would be just sitting around.

_Don't you have anything better to do?_ "I'm Sorry." She chose the more polite of the thoughts floating in her head to say, even if it had no feeling in it. The poem. She looked it over and cringed. It wasn't that she didn't like it, because she did. It just felt very immature.

Mai closed her eyes and felt around inside her head. That weird presence was still there. It probably wasn't that big of a... no it was. There was a major problem with it. _What if it decides to posses me again?_ She thought. _But what can I say? And to who?_

Masako turned to Mai. "Mai, earlier..." She didn't really know what to say. "When... you were possessed. Are you okay now?"

Mai was actually curious as to whether Masako was okay. Didn't she not like Mai? Then why was she. "I don't think it completely left." Mai was actually glad that Masako asked anyway. She felt she was going to go insane with no one to talk to it about.

Masako turned away. Mai then figured out why Masako always brought her hand to her mouth. It had to be to hide her emotions. It was the exact same thing as turning her back to the person she was talking to. Masako continued. "If something happens, I will tell the others if you don't get a chance."

* * *

Ayako was pacing in her room, when she looked over at the speaker. It was turned off, but Mai and Masako were in the base. Maybe... She turned it on quiet. 

"-ease stop that." Masako's voice said. Ayako wondered what she wanted to stop. Possibly Mai was doing something stupid and annoying.

"I'm sorry." Mai's voice said back. Obviously she didn't mean it. Great. There was nothing interesting. Naru wasn't there to get people to do things. Ayako took the time to notice that Mai seemed as busy as usual. Meaning that she was getting her normal workload. Meaning she always did less than everyone else? Not that it mattered anyway. Its not like she could really help much.

"Mai, earlier... when you were possessed. Are you okay now?" This was a shock. Mai was possessed? When? She moved over to the speaker and turned it up. Takigawa opened the door.

"Hey, Ayako?" Ayako put up her hand out to shut him up.

"I don't think it completely left." Mai's voice said, tensely. She sounded really worried about something.

"Ayako, whats-" Another hand gesture silenced him again

"If something happens, I will tell the others if you don't get a chance." Masako again. Wait, since when was Masako like that? Didn't Masako not like Mai? There was such animosity between the two, since both of them liked Naru.

"Masako..." Mai said

"What's going on?" Asked Takigawa after a few moments of silence.

Ayako frowned and leaned back from the speaker. "Masako just said Mai had been possessed."

Takigawa frowned and thought back. That time when Masako walked in. She kept looking in the corner, but there was nothing there. Did it have to do with that?

Masako continued. "It would probably best if you don't go to sleep again in this building. If you do..." Ayako started thinking about that time when Mai woke up. She had stared at Masako for moments before she jolted back and hit her head. Takigawa realized this too.

"Should we-" started Ayako. Takigawa shushed her this time, when Mai started talking.

"I guess that would be for the best. But I don't think I want to tell the others, unless it becomes necessary." There was some rustling. "You want some tea or something? I have some nice stuff from a friend."

"I would like that." Masako said. A door opened. Ayako turned off the speaker. She dove to her bed and looked around for the closest thing to read.

"Mai's probably going to-" There was a knock on the door. Takigawa opened it.

It was Mai, just as Ayako predicted. "Hey. My friend got me some really nice tea, and I was wondering if you guys want a cup?" Mai smiled and held up her little bag full of teas.

_For someone so concerned, you really seem okay. I would have never suspected anything. _Ayako paused. _Does that mean that Mai can hide her feelings really well? At least her sadness... That's probably not a good thing. _"That would be really nice."

Takigawa was thinking too. _I can't tell at all that Mai is upset about anything... but just the other minute she seemed really..._scared_. Does this mean that in the past she may have been really upset about something and we couldn't tell? Some friends we are. _"Yeah! Sure."

Mai couldn't tell what they were thinking. "Just straight for both of you? No sugar or..?" Both shook their heads. "I'll be back as soon as its done then, okay?" She smiled. It seemed so genuine.

Mai left to make the tea. Ayako looked at Takigawa. "What now? Do we tell anyone that we know?"

Takigawa shook his head. "I think that Mai wouldn't have told anyone if Masako hadn't found out. In this situation, we need to see what happens. Masako said she was going to tell Naru and us if something happens. I don't think we should act just yet."

Ayako nodded, and checked her watch. 2:30. Shouldn't Naru have been back by now? He said 3 or 4 hours, but it had really only been 3. Oh well. If he came back and Mai had tea for everyone, he would probably make her go back and make more. "I guess so. But if Masako doesn't say anything right away, its up to us." Mai was such a nice person. Her presence lit up the space. She was the kind of person one wanted to be around.

Takigawa nodded.

* * *

Mai was preparing the tea in the kitchen she did it in the last time. Hana, the maid who stayed in there to make snacks, was present. As was Asa, finishing cleaning the lunch dishes. They let her in after she said that Yue had let her earlier. 

"I really appreciate that you guys make such good food for us." Mai said, bowing a bit.

Hana smiled, and blushed a bit. "Oh, its not that good. I'm sure you could get better anywhere."

Asa mocked horror. "No way! Theres nowhere better to eat for 30 minutes in any direction!"

Mai laughed. "Is there anywhere to eat, 30 minutes in any direction from here?"

Asa thought for a moment. "Maybe..." she shrugged.

Mai laughed again, and checked the water. Then an idea came to mind. "Do you guys know of anything I could eat to help me stay awake?"

Hana thought, but Asa spoke up. "Why is that?"

Mai didn't really feel like giving the real reason. But she didn't like to lie. "I was awake all last night, but my boss doesn't want me sleeping on the job." She shrugged. "I don't know what he was thinking, making me work such weird hours." It was close enough to the truth.

Hana gasped. "But, if you're under 20, can't your parents tell him that he can't do that? Surely your parents don't want you working yourself into the ground!"

Mai lowered her head a bit. She wasn't particularly keen on talking about it. Sure, it was easy to reveal that to the SPR group, but at the time she really did think that they had figured it out. She didn't want to just... tell Hana. She would be really upset to think that she had dampened how Mai was feeling. Especially since she had been trying to seem so cheerful. "Oh thats right!" Asa said, sensing the discomfort.

She stepped into the kitchen and pulled out a spice shaker. "my own special mix of herbs. They can be added to hot drinks, like tea. They don't have a smell, but it adds a bit of a peppermint taste, and it really keeps you awake. Don't use too much at once, but if you need to, I'll give you the whole thing for future use." She smiled, and handed it to Mai.

Mai sniffed it, curiously. There was no scent, just as Asa had said. "What is it?"

"Its actually a weed that grown in the yard here, dried. I ground it into a powder." Mai was confused.

"What gave you the idea to use it in hot drinks?"

Asa smiled. "It does sound weird I guess. One of the guests recognized the plant and told me about it. It comes in handy when I need to work late. But I can make more. Have it!"

Hana gasped. "I have this tea. Its got lots of caffeine. Would that help too?" Mai nodded, and Hana left.

Asa was surprised. "She's actually giving you some of her tea?" Mai was confused, again. "She collects rare teas as a hobby. She orders it from many odd places. If she's going to share, she must feel very bad about her comment earlier."

"You mean about my parents." Mai said, downcast again.

Asa nodded. "Sorry." there were a few moments silence before footsteps were heard in the hallway.

Hana was back, and out of breath with a wooden box in her hand. It had strawberries painted on the side. "Here. Strawberry Zap. Its got more caffeine than any of my others." She gave a cheerful smile.

"Thank you!" Mai said, accepting the box. She checked the water. It was ready. She checked her watch. Naru and Lin would be back soon with John. Should she just make a pot, then bring cups? That would be for the best. "Can you get me a large pot to serve the tea in?"

Asa opened the cupboard above the stove, and pulled out an average sized tea pot. "Biggest we have clean right now, sorry." Mai shrugged, and prepared the tea her friend gave her. She then made one cup of the strawberry tea, tipping in a bit of the herb.

"Thank you very much." She picked up the bag with the teas between her teeth, but couldn't figure out how to hold the remaining box of tea, her cup, the other SPR member' cups, and the pot.

"Here!" Hana pulled out a server's tray from a pile on the counter. Mai loaded the stuff onto it, and made slow progression back to the base. She tapped the door with her foot, and Masako opened it.

"It's ready!" She said cheerfully. She passed Masako and put it down on the table by her couch. "Masako, will you go get Ayako and Bou-san?"

Masako didn't respond, but left. She returned moments later, Ayako and Takigawa behind. Mai was pouring the tea. Hopefully Masako hadn't noticed her cup had stuff in it already. She grabbed her cup, and the others followed suit.

Mai noted that hers was a lighter colour than everyone else's. She carefully angled it so no one else could see.

The silence that filled the space was slightly uncomfortable. Everyone seemed to stare at the ground. "Is everyone okay?" Mai asked, genuinely curious as to what was bugging Ayako and Takigawa.

"I'm just wondering when Naru will be back with Lin and John. Didn't he say 3 or 4 hours? Its been almost 4 now." Ayako sighed. Mai checked her watch. It was indeed near 15:00.

Takigawa nodded absentmindedly. How could it seem so much like theres nothing wrong? She was no different than before. But Ayako wasn't lying. Maybe she misheard? It was a possibility.

But he did hear Mai saying she wouldn't sleep. So something was going on.

The door opened. Naru and Lin walked in. Lin put his jacket on his chair, sat down, and turned on his computer.

Naru walked over to where the rest of his group was sitting, around the table. "A room has become vacant at the end of the hall on this floor. John will be staying there." He looked at the tea pot on the table, but didn't comment.

Mai was glad. Because if she were to get Naru tea, she would have to put hers down. Which would reveal its different colour. She hurried to finish the cup anyway, and placed it on the table.

What now? She was most certainly not tired. She felt like she wouldn't sleep for a year. Asa was right about 'not much required'.

"Ah, Naru?" She asked. He turned. "Would you like anything?"

He paused a moment before asking. When someone offers some one else something, isn't it usually second nature to say 'no _thank you_' or at least ' _please_'? "Some tea then." He said, flattening Mai. She really figured he would have asked nicely. But why didn't he just ask when he saw it? Did he notice she was busy drinking her own?

She poured his cup. After delivering it, she sat on the couch and just thought. _This is certainly a quiet bunch_. Nobody said anything.

There was a tentative knock on the door. Nobody moved, so Mai went to get it.


	6. Clouds 6

As Promised, 2 chapters. Aren't I a nice person? I hope you weren't waiting long. No, I figure maybe 1 or 2 people will have seen the first chapter by the time I upload this one. Also, I have an updated version of chapter 1. a few grammatical errors corrected, spellings fixed, adjectives changed for easier reading, that sort of thing. No reason to reread, just lettin' yeh know. So yeah! Yeah.

So sorry about the two weeks. But I worked hard all night to bring this to you today!... no seriously. I was up past 12. My hands get cold when I type at night. Its sad (sigh)

No worries though

Disclaimer: I don't own ghost hunt. Sad yeh? But then again, almost everyone on this website probably doesn't

* * *

6- 

Mai opened the door to see John. The priest waved a bit. "Good afternoon, Mai."

"Same to you. There's tea on the table. Help yourself." She smiled. He walked in past Mai who followed. John took her spot on her couch, but she was okay with that.

Silence once again sat. The only sound was John pouring his tea. Mai leaned on the wall by the door, and closed her eyes. It was actually kind of nice, in her opinion. It gave her time to search inwardly. That presence... it felt like it was a bit... stronger. Like it was moving towards the surface.

_Like a timer._

A timer... yeah. That was the best way to put it.

Their silence was disturbed again. Another knock on the door. Mai opened it. It was Noon. She looked very upset, and was out of breath. "Noon?"

She grabbed onto Mai's hand. "Its one of the guests. She... collapsed in the hallway. 3rd floor"

Mai straitened up. "Stay here." She said, and ran out the door.

Takigawa stood up. "What's going on?" Ayako followed Mai. Masako was still sitting, drinking her tea. John looked over to Naru.

"What happened?" Naru asked.

Noon pointed upstairs. 'A guest..." She caught her breath, and pointed up. "Collapsed on the 3rd floor."

Naru followed after Mai and Ayako. John followed Naru.

Lin looked over at Masako, who acted as if she didn't see or hear any of what had just happened. Noon sat on the couch.

"Thats right. I remember now. Her name is Ai." Masako looked up this time. Lin turned too. Takigawa dashed out the door.

* * *

Mai raced up the stairs, and saw Ai laying face first on the ground. First thing, she shook the girl senselessly. "Ai! Ai?! Are you okay?" Ayako was soon after. 

"Mai thats not helping. Check if she's breathing, or for a pulse!" Ayako said. Mai started crying.

"Ai... I'm sorry..." She said. Naru was at the top of the stairs now, John trailing. Naru knelt down beside Mai, ignoring the crying girl to do exactly as Ayako had suggested.

"Her pulse is fine, and she's still breathing." Naru said. Takigawa was now at the top of the stairs.

Mai hiccuped, and wiped her hand on her eye. "I'm sorry." she murmured. John put a hand on her shoulder.

Mai stood up and ran past Takigawa down the stairs. "Ah... Mai?" He called after her, but she kept going. "What happened?" He then saw Ai on the floor.

Ayako pointed down he stairs. "Go follow her! John, help me carry her to the base." Takigawa ran after Mai

"No, just put her back in her room." Naru said, and started off.

John looked at Ayako. "No. She may have a serious problem, and Mai seems to think its her fault, meaning she may have and idea as to what happened. If she's in the base, we can get a better idea as to what is wrong."Ayako said. She figured if she presented the facts logically, she might be able to win.

Naru actually considered it. "Fine. Put her on the couch." Inside her head, Ayako punched the air in a sort of mini victory dance. But that wasn't really what was on her mind. She was worried about Takigawa and Mai

* * *

Mai ran outside, Takigawa was faster than her, but he still hadn't caught up. She actually ran right off the property of the building before Takigawa caught her arm. "Hey!" he said, turning her to face him. 

Her face was still screwed up and red. The tears weren't stopping. "I'm sorry..." She said, and looked at the ground.

He looked up. It looked like rain. "Come on, lets go back inside." A drop hit him on the nose.

"I want to stay out here." said Mai. She got a raindrop on her shoulder. She could feel the presence in her head struggling to stay where it was. Wavering, it became a little weaker.

A few more drops fell on Takigawa's head, and Mai got some on her face. "Tree." He said, pointing to a tree full of leaves. Underneath it, he and Mai sat, watching the stray drops gain volume, until it was pouring. Mai's tears dried and she just felt empty instead.

After about 5 minutes, Takigawa spoke again. "Why did you run out here?"

Mai frowned. She figured that the presence would leave completely if she left the grounds, and stayed off of them, but it seemed to just waver. She'd have to go farther from the building ...

"Mai?"

"Huh?" Mai hadn't heard Takigawa the first time.

"Why did you come out here?"

"Ai..." she said again. "Its my fault. I let her stay with me to write out what Kris and Serra were saying, and they got upset that we listened." She started crying a bit again. "If I hadn't let Naru have his way..."

Takigawa thought a bit. _If the spirits got upset, _"What did they say to you?" The answer played in his head. She got possessed. But that went away immediately, didn't it? No. Mai had said that it didn't seem like it left coompletely.

"Serra..." Mai didn't want anyone to worry about her. She didn't want to tell him what Serra had said. But she didn't want to tell him about her being possessed either. What could she say? "She said that if I do it again, she'd get angry..."

Takigawa sighed. "That would be bad."

_Hah hah hah..._Mai felt the presence... laughing? But that couldn't mean anything. As long as it wasn't in control, it couldn't tell what was going on, right? Especially now that it was losing strength. _Hah hah hah..._

"We should go back. We can't sit in the rain forever. Besides, what will the others think?" They had been out a while...

_Hah hah hah.._

* * *

At about 19:00, Ai woke up. She was okay, but said that she felt like her head was clouded slightly. Naru told her to go rest, and she was glad to get out of his presence again.

Mai sulked on her couch a bit. She had another cup of the strawberry tea, with the herb, And while she was awake, she certainly needed sleep. _But I've had a decent amount of sleep! I slept this morning, and this afternoon. Do I really sleep thing much? _She kept drinking the tea.

Masako was looking for Kris and Serra. She returned at 19:02, to report neither were anywhere to be found.

John, Ayako and Takigawa were in the base, Having some of the tea Mai's friend gave her. Naru sat at his computer, also with a cup, typing something up. _How do he and Lin always have something to type? _Mai wondered absentmindedly

She stretched her arms. "Hey, Naru, If you want I'll watch the cameras again. I'm not tired at all." It was true. She wasn't tired, she just needed sleep.

"Fine. You're on your own." he said. Mai figured he might have asked someone else to help, considering she probably wasn't supposed to be on her won. Wait... did that mean he trusted her to do it on her own?

"Ahh," John spoke up. "I'll stay up with Mai. I'll get her to fill me in on what she knows about the case, so you don't have worry about forgetting to tell me something."

Naru thought. "I wouldn't forget anything, but I suppose it would be best to have some one with Mai, as she would probably make some stupid mistakes."

John looked apologetically at Mai, who was glaring at Naru's back.

Mai's eyes wandered to the window. It was still raining, but she felt like rain was calming.

"I'm going for a walk." She grabbed a jacket from her bag, and wandered out of the base.

Ayako watched her go. "She's going outside in this weather?"

John shrugged. "Maybe the atmosphere in here was to uncomfortable. I was considering going for a walk too..."

Takigawa walked to the window. "Will she be okay on her own?"

Ayako shrugged. "Probably. I'm sure she's taken walks in the rain alone before."

Naru sighed. "Fascinating isn't it? But it would be much more appropriate to be talking about the case." Masako said. It was what she thought was on Naru's mind. If she was able to prevent him from wasting his breath maybe then...

"I'm going outside." Naru said, surprising everyone. He shut the computer off, and left.

Everyone was silent as he closed the door. Masako looked at her cup. Takigawa looked at Mai's. "Hey, she didn't..." He looked closer. "Mai's is different."

Ayako grabbed the cup. "Yeah. Its lighter coloured." She sniffed it, then took a sip. "Thats really nice! Its got a neat mint sort of flavour to it." Then Ayako's eyes widened.

"Ayako?" Takigawa looked at her, waving a hand in front of her face.

She swatted at him. "I'm fine, but this tea... it's... energizing." Takigawa tried it.

"Woa. Thats..." He didn't have any way to put it.

John grabbed it, and tasted it. "I've had this before. I think its called Strawberry Zap. If I remember correctly, then this tea has a very high caffeine content. But this mint flavour is different."

Ayako took the cup back. Masako sighed. They looked like a bunch of kids fighting over a toy, the way they all grabbed at it. "Theres little bits at the bottom." Ayako stuck her finger in a brought some up from the bottom of the cup.

"Minty?" John asked. Ayako's eyes opened again.

"That stuff it _potent_! Why on earth would Mai drink this?" She swirled the liquid around in the cup.

Takigawa looked around at the group. "It has to be to stay awake tonight." Ayako nodded, John was confused. Masako was interested. Did they know about what Mai said when they were talking?

Ayako noted that Masako was suspicious. "It must be so that she can work all night like last time without being tired. Its dangerous to her health to do that!" Takigawa nodded. Masako was content with this answer.

John frowned. "In that case, Mai shouldn't be allowed to wor..."

(scream)

* * *

Mai stepped outside, and let the downpour saturate her hair. It had been a while since she had done that. It was so refreshing. She wandered around the side of the building. 

_Hah hah hah._

Still that weird laugh. At least it wasn't constant. If it was, she wouldn't be able to stay sane.

She stopped and look around. The building was very beautiful. It was a western design, but that was probably since Noon, Serra and Kris were all from North America originally.

Mai heard the front door open again, and it shook her from her thought. She started to walk but slipped on the wet ground.

"Ahh!" Mai cried rather softly. She stood up quickly, and inspected herself. Her left leg was covered in mud to her knee, and her knee had hit a rock. Her skirt was fine. Her hands were filthy too though, so she traced around to the back of the building where there were a few shrubs. She wiped her hands on the leaves.

Smiling, she tilted her leg so that the rain fell on it. The rain washed away the mod, and cleaned the cut a bit. However, it was bleeding pretty badly. Mai walked to the other side of the building.

"Naru?" Mai saw a person under a black coat with black hair waiting at that side of the building.

He turned to look. Noticing first the cut on her knee.

"What happened?"

Mai looked at it. The blood, mixed with rain, was trailing down her leg making it look particularly bad. Much worse than the scrape it was. But still, it was bleeding quite a bit, for a cut on the knee anyway. "I slipped."

Naru rolled his eyes, but didn't comment. _I could see that_ he thought.

"Hey!" Mai whined. "That wasn't very nice!"

"And you were expecting something nice?" He returned.

_Gah...__I guess thats what I get for attempting to think he might say anything else. I wonder why I bother sometimes. _Mai wiped off the blood. At least she tried to, but its quickly trailed down her leg again. "This is useless. I'm going back in to get this bandaged." She stated walking around the other side of the building.

"Mai, its faster this way." He said.

She didn't turn around. "But theres something I don't want to deal with over there." She finally felt as though she had won. At least a bit. What would he say?

There was no reply. Mai continued to the other side.

On the opposite side of the building, Mai looked up the wall. There appeared to be a dark stain trailing down. There was a big spot just above the height of her eyes, and a few smaller ones up higher. They all had lines dripping down.

She walked up to it, and touched it with her finger. She didn't remember it being there when she had studied the building earlier. She looked more closely. It was a dark red.

Blood.

"Ah!" She cried out quietly. Naru walked to the side of the building where Mai was. He saw her poking the wall, and staring at her finger.

There was nothing there.

"Ah!" Mai cried again, trying to wipe the blood off. To Naru, she look like she was feverently trying to clean her finger where she touched the wall.

"Mai?" He called. Even for her, this was not considered okay.

She touched the wall again, with her palm. She then started trying to scrape it off. Naru grabbed her wrist. She just stared at her palm, tears in her eyes.

"Mai! What's wrong?"

"B- Blood!" She whined. Naru couldn't see it. He touched the wall with his free hand, right where Mai could see the blood, but his had came back clean. "It... It..."

He examined it carefully. Nothing at all. "Mai, lets go back inside."

She held her hand out into the rain, then pulled it back when a puddle formed, and tried to scrub it off. "It's not coming off... It's..." She then screamed, and fell to her knees. "It's not..." She fell onto Naru's leg, out cold.

* * *

"What happened? That came from outside." Ayako looked out the window. Lin stood up, and followed suit. It was the wrong side of the building. 

Takigawa thought for a moment. "Mai." he said. Running for the door, he went to go see what happened. John was right afterwards. Neither one grabbed a jacket.

Masako stood up and followed him. She however, grabbed an umbrella from her room, before hurrying outside.

Lin frowned. "Naru is out there already."

Ayako pushed her head flat against the window. "Thats probably another cause for concern."

Lin shook his head. "I wouldn't be so sure." Ayako looked at him, then they both dashed to get a coat of some sort before going outside.

* * *

Naru was stunned for a moment. She saw blood? 

Why on earth did she touch it? Honestly, sometimes...

He leaned her against the wall, and ran his had along it. Takigawa was around the corner, and saw them. "Naru! Mai.. is she..?" John ran up too, and knelt down next to Mai.

Naru wasn't listening. There was nothing about the wall that would lead to any sort of suspicion.

"NARU!" Takigawa was right next to him.

"She just fainted." he said, not taking his eyes off the wall. Masako turned the corner and gasped.

"The wall!" she said pointing to where Naru was touching the wall. "Theres blood!" John and Takigawa stared, as did Naru. She stayed a fair distance, barely coming around the corner.

"You can't see it?" Takigawa shook his head. "It's on Mai's and, but why not yours, Naru? Even if you can see it, you have your hand on it."

Naru looked at Mai. "Masako, No one else can see it." John said.

"I think she already figured that out." Naru said, and looked down at Mai. She was shivering a bit, which was a sign that she was okay, besides unconscious and cold.

Ayako and Lin rounded the corner, to survey the scene. "What happened?" Ayako called, passing Masako who wouldn't go any closer.

"Mai touched the blood." Naru said, touching the hand that touched the wall. "And couldn't get it off her hands."

Ayako was confused. "What blood? Will she be okay?"

Naru picked her up, and left without saying anything.

The rest of SPR stood staring at the wall.

"Masako?" Ayako turned to face the teen. "What happened? Why wont you come over here?"

"The stench... It's unbearable. That wall... is covered in blood." Masako dropped the umbrella and fell forward. Takigawa dashed and caught the medium as she fell.

Ayako touched the wall. Lin Looked up. "Theres no railing. This must be where Serra jumped. If so, the Masako and Mai must have seen..."

"There shouldn't be blood anymore! That happened so long ago! And besides, why can't we see it?" Ayako picked up a rock and scraped the wall.

"Thats useless, Matsuzaki-san," John said, politely.

"I know." She rested her fore arm against the wall. "But... what now?"

Lin started back toward the front door. "We assemble at base for now." Takigawa carried Masako to the building. He put her on her bed, and came back to the rest of John, Takigawa, Ayako and Lin staring at a closed door.

"Locked." Said Ayako, for Takigawa's benefit.


	7. Clouds 7

Ohkay--I was chatting with ma soeur. She said it would have probably been a better idea to hold off on posting the second chapter. I said maybe I should have waited a day. She said I should have waited a week. Aha! Yeah.. well... if I was reading this I would muchly prefer sooner updates. Reviews are nice, though. I really appreciate those who take the time. All are welcome. Flames... Yeah, sure. Whatever. Its your opinion. I will choose my mirrors.

Anywho. I actually get happy just to see the hit counter go up. Seriously. I check that every time I go near the computer . So thank you to people like you who read. You can't see, but I'm smiling. And humming, but that's because a great song just came on, yeah? yeah. (FYI, God Knows... , Aya Hirano, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (You know? A lot of people mis spell that.. haha melancoly...))

Disclaimer- Ghost hunt.. yeah. Not mine. Yeah. Now... I do own some stuff here, ie, original characters. ie, Noon, and the like. I love that name. I may have to use it again in something else... ;p But thats unoriginal (sigh...)

* * *

"Locked." Said Ayako, for Takigawa's benefit. 

7-

They stared at the door for a moment. It was as if they expected it to open.

It didn't

Takigawa looked to Ayako. "What about that thing?" He was referring to the microphone and speaker set up.

Ayako thought for a moment. "But then we'd have to move Masako."

John and Lin were confused. "What are you talking about?" John asked.

Ayako smiled. "We setup a microphone in the base room. Its attached wirelessly to a speaker in our room."

Lin frowned. "Is that necessary?"

Takigawa looked at him. "And you want to just let whatever goes on in there be completely unknown by us?"

John didn't know what to do. He figured it would be better to not listen in. After all, he locked the door for that reason. So what would they do? "Isn't it better not to?"

Ayako brushed it off. "Oh come on. I for one want to know, so I'm going to listen in. Anyone else is welcome. But Masako doesn't know. And I would prefer to keep it that way."

"How can she not know if she's staying in the room?" Lin pointed out.

Ayako shrugged. "Lin, can we put her in your room?" He sighed and shook his head. "Why? does Naru have the key?"

"Yes."

Ayako looked to John. "What about you?" he held out the key. Takigawa grabbed it, and went back into the room get Masako. He laid her down on the bed, and locked the door.

Back in Ayako and Takigawa's room, Ayako was fiddling with the speaker. No matter how loud she turned it up, there was nothing. She turned it back to a decent level, in case something was said.

Lin sighed again. "Did it ever occur to you that there may be nothing to hear? Mai's not going to be saying anything any time soon, and Naru doesn't talk to himself."

John nodded. "Maybe we should just knock."

Ayako thought for a moment. Takigawa spoke. "Maybe they aren't in there."

He was proven wrong. The sound of something came over the speaker.

"Somebody's moving the mic..." Ayako said, confused.

John thought for a moment. He had never seen it in the room. Then again, he had hardly been in it. "Where was it?"

"Secret." Takigawa said, smiling proud.

The sound continued to come. They waited with baited breath.

"Surprise." Came from the speaker. "Found the off." Naru's voice. Then a click.

Off. "Oh... well." John shrugged. Honestly he was happy. "Thats how it goes." Lin sighed. "You guys know any good card games?" John asked. He pointed at a deck of cards sitting on the night table.

* * *

Naru opened the front door carefully, so as to not drop Mai. There were no guests in the lobby area, so he rounded the corner past the front counter. He made it all the way back to the base without seeing anyone. Shifting Mai's weight to one arm, he pulled out his key, and opened the door. 

In the Base, he set Mai down on the couch. After that, he locked the door. She probably needed rest, and interruptions from the other SPR members were probably not high on the list of things that help.

Although, considering how much she slept, it was surprising that she offered to stay up. Again. What was she thinking? Evidently, she wasn't.

Naru didn't have anything to do, so he poured a cup of the tea on the table. It wasn't cold, but its wasn't hot anymore either. It came to mind that Mai was really light. _I wonder if she eats enough..._Funny. Why did he care? Maybe he felt the slightest bit responsible, considering the only money she got was as his assistant.

He shrugged it off, and just sat in the silence for a minute or so. There were some voices outside. He couldn't tell who was saying any of it. Someone tried the door. A pause.

_"Locked." _No really.

_"What about that thing?"_ What thing? Naru's interest was piqued.

_"But then we'd have to move Masako."_

_"What are you talking about?"_

_"We setup a microphone in the base room. Its attached wirelessly to a speaker in our room."_ Interesting. Now, where might it be?

_"Is that necessary?"_

_"And you want to just let whatever goes on in there be completely unknown by us?"_ What were they expecting?

_"Isn't it better not to?"_ And who was this standing up for him? No, it was probably for Mai.

_"Oh come on. I for one want to know, so I'm going to listen in. Anyone else is welcome. But Masako doesn't know. And I would prefer to keep it that way."_ So who did know about it?

_"How can she not know if she's in the room?"_ If Masako was in the room that the speaker that the microphone was attached to, it would mean that the two 'masterminds' behind the plot would Ayako and Takigawa.

_"Lin, can we put her in your room? Why? does Naru have the key?"_ _Of course I have the key. _Naru thought. _Really._

_"Yes."_

_"What about you?"_

_"I guess she could..."_

_"Right then. Takigawa!"_ The conversation came to an end, and he could hear foot steps.

Naru turned his attention to the room. The microphone would have to be somewhere open enough to get the entire area of the room. But hidden from view, so nobody would be able to find it. He also had to consider who hid it. If it was Ayako and Takigawa, so it would be in a decently well hidden place. He hadn't seen it yet... so...

He looked over at the shelf unit the screens were on. There were ample cords. It would be perfect. He looked around the back. Sure enough, near the top so it wouldn't be visible to someone just looking at the screens, there was a small mic.

He reached up, and pulled it out of it spot. Tracing the cord to the unit which sent out the wireless signal to the neighbouring room, he located the a switch.

"Surprise." he said to the people undoubtedly listening on the other side. "Found the off." with that, he switched it. Just to be sure, he also unplugged the cable from the microphone.

After that, he turned sat down by the computer, and flipped through the pages in his black notebook. Mai woke up a few minutes later.

"Ah..." she whined. Holding her head. Somehow, she was so tired, but that tea... It was so potent...

Naru was surprised. He hadn't expected to see her awake for at least an hour. What sort of willpower did she have if she didn't want to sleep that badly? "Go back to sleep." He said, looking over the sheets Mai had sorted earlier.

Mai examined her hands. They were completely clean. She closed her eyes, and felt for the presence. It was stronger. The timer getting closer to 0.

_Hah hah hah..._

It was nearly constant now. But she didn't want to complain about it. "I'm not tired."She lied.

Apparently, she was not good at it. "Yeah right. You look exactly as you did this morning."

_But I'm scared to sleep._ She whined a bit. "I'm not." She said, less forcefully.

Naru sighed a bit. What was with her? Not tired? No way. He could tell she didn't want to sleep, but she was tired.

"Naru..." She wanted to say something. Something about what was wrong. But it was hard to say it. Not that it would be easier to bring it up with someone else.

He waited. Mai wanted to say something. _Look somewhere else! Please? Its so hard to say anything when you look right at me..._She pleaded internally. "I.."

She couldn't say anything. "If you don't have anything to say, go back to sleep."

He really wasn't helping. Oh, if it were Takigawa, she might have been able to say something. But just the fact that she liked Naru...

"Nothing." He looked back at his sheets, she stood up. What if she asked Takigawa if he would take his car off the property of the inn? Then she would be able to sleep in there, no problem. Maybe if she said it was really important, he wouldn't ask. Mai headed towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Naru looked up from the sheets.

She already forgot that he was there. "I'm going to talk to Bou-san."

Naru stood up and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back to the couch with an exhausted sigh. "No more than 10 minutes ago, you were unable to stand. Go back to sleep, so you can function properly tomorrow."

Mai pulled her wrist away. She hadn't been expecting that. She needed to get off the grounds if she was going to sleep. She looked out the window. It opened wide enough but, if she jumped out, she would probably get hurt. It was the second floor. She searched in her pocket for her key. The fatigue was overpowering the herbs and the caffeine.

Naru sat back down. Mai looked at the door. In one last attempt, she tried to run.

Tried.

The first thing she did was fall.

* * *

"This is kind of useless." 

They had been playing Old Maid. Ayako was out first, and the rest were still playing. Ayako sat with her head to the wall, and was explaining what she could hear.

"I can hear voices, but I can't understand them. If they were a little louder..." She said, straining. She sighed, knowing it was hopeless. "I cant believe he found it. It was a great spot."

"I had already known where it was." Lin said, grabbing a card off of John. He felt odd about wasting time playing games, but its not like he had his computer.

Ayako stuck out her tongue.

Thud

Something fell in the room over.

"They're talking louder now! I can hear!" Ayako said, pressing her head harder against the wall.

Takigawa put down his cards, and did the same.

* * *

What are you doing? I thought I said..." Naru walked over and stood menacingly beside her. 

Mai cut him off. "I don't care. I'm going now." She struggled to lift herself up. Naru grabbed her forearms and lifted her up.

Besides that the last time he was behind her, It reminded Mai a lot of her dream earlier. She looked down to avoid his gaze.

"Why are you so adamant about not staying in this room and getting rest?" He was being careful not to hurt her.

Mai pulled out. "I'm sorry. Just I don't want to risk anything!"

Naru honestly wondered what she was so worried would happen.

* * *

"She's trying to avoid sleeping in that room." John said. He too had his ear to the wall now. Ayako and Takigawa recognized why Mai wouldn't. She had said she didn't want to sleep anymore. 

"Maybe one of us should knock on the door..." Takigawa offered.

Ayako nodded and stood up. John and Takigawa followed her to the door. Lin sighed and started cleaning up the cards.

* * *

Mai managed to get to the door. She opened it. John, Ayako and Takigawa were on the other side, about to knock. "Mai?" Takigawa was mildly surprised. He knew she was upset, but to run away? 

Naru was still behind her. She steadied herself on Takigawa for a moment, and then started running again. "Mai?" He was after her, but Naru was faster.

John and Ayako didn't follow. Lin came out of their room after hearing Mai called. He caught sight of Takigawa going down the stairs. "Where's Mai headed now?" Ayako grabbed the door, and unlocked it from the inside before it closed.

"She doesn't want to sleep on the property of the inn, so I assume outside. Its still raining..." Ayako sighed. "I'm going to bet that that monk will work it out so she can sleep outside of the in somehow. And I get the feeling Naru will be adverse to it."

* * *

Mai dashed out the front doors still not caught by Naru. For someone who had fallen at her last attempt, she managed a great speed.

"Mai!" called Takigawa after the part-timer. She kept running. She aimed for the tree which she and Takigawa had sat under when she ran outside last time. As she was about to reach the edge of the property, she tripped.

Even though she struggled to her feet particularly fast, Naru and Takigawa both caught up. "Come on. Inside. Now." Takigawa pointed at the doors. Mai shook her head, and covered her eyes with her hands. Her hair was saturated with the rain, and her clothes were filthy. The guys weren't much better in the wet department, but al least neither on had mud on them.

Takigawa thought about the conversation with Masako. '_It would probably best if you don't go to sleep again in this building. If you do...' _"Come on." Naru tried grabbed Mai's wrist again.

Takigawa batted his hand away. "Hey Mai, You really wont sleep if you stay inside?"

Mai nodded. Naru glared. "What then?" he asked, impatiently.

He pulled his car keys out of his pocket. "Then I'll pull my vehicle out here, and you can sleep in it. I'll even bring out your blanket."

Mai pulled her hands off her face. "You... will?" He nodded, and Mai brushed away the tears. "Thank-you." she whispered, and looked down. She didn't want to see Naur's expression. She began do use her hands to get as much of the dirt off of herself as possible.

"Alright then. Naru, you go get Mai's blankets and pillow, I'll get my vehicle." Takigawa said, motioning for Mai to follow as he took a step towards the parking lot.

Naru frowned. "No. Its more dangerous outside. She will be staying in her room." he was firm. Takigawa didn't know how to approach the situation to let Mai stay in the vehicle.

"How is it more dangerous?" no response. "Fine then. I'll stay with her." Naru looked even more opposed to this. Mai liked that idea. It was better than...

"No." he said. _Oh... wrong thing to say._Naru's hair was weighed down by the rain. Mai thought it looked really different. Even his usual grumpy attitude seemed more like concern. But that couldn't have been true. It was just the way his hair looked, weighed down by the rain.

Takigawa just shrugged. "What? Then would you stay out with her?" A fearful expression crossed Mai's face, so she turned away, hoping that Naru didn't notice.

Naru frowned. "Fine. I'll be back." he turned and walked away.

Takigawa was actually surprised too. Mai started blushing. "Um. Bou-san..." she started quietly. "I would really prefer if that wasn't the case."

He shrugged as they walked. "Not like I can do anything about it now. Although I'm almost sorry to have been the one who suggested it, I really don't want you to have to stay inside." Mai would have been upset about the 'almost' comment if she hadn't been confused as to why he was helping without knowing. She figured he'd pry a bit before he helped. She looked curiously at him. Did he know..? "You seem so against the idea, so I don't want you to be so upset. We all enjoy your company more when you're happy." She blushed a bit more.

"Thank-you." Takigawa opened the driver side door, and Mai traced around to the other side. He pulled out of the parking spot, and moved it to the opposite side of the street the Inn was on.

Mai crawled into the back seat, and layed down with her hands as a pillow. The super energy tea she had earlier was then completely overpowered, and she fell asleep. Takigawa watched from the front seat.

_Glad I could help, Mai_. He watched for a bit, feeling a bit like a father. But then he felt old, so he stepped out of the vehicle, and started walking to the inn. He waited for Naru at the doors, then walked back to the other side of the road with him. Takigawa had an idea.

He put Mai's head on a real pillow, and spread the blanket over her. Naru adjusted the passer's side seat to lay backwards.

"Now!" said Takigawa once they had settled in. He had gone around to each of the doors and done something. "I expect to see this car in the exact same place. That means no joyrides young man." Naru glared. Takigawa grinned evil-ly. "Good night, children." he closed the door, and hit a button on the key. An ominous click sound resonated from all four doors. Naru glared, but it seemed to be unable to penetrate the glass of the door.

Once Takigawa was inside the building, Naru started to think. What was Mai thinking? Maybe she had dreamt something, and had once again failed to tell anyone. He sighed and looked. She looked much better now, sleeping off the property.

Naru yawned and looked around. He wasn't too tired yet, so he looked around for his little black notebook. After looking around a bit he realized it was not with him.

But he didn't really need it, did he? As long as he was lecturing others on sleep deprivation, shouldn't he start doing something about his own?

Nope. He would do whatever he wanted. It was the sort of 'do as I say but not as I do' situation. _Now. Where did I leave that notebook of mine? Probably in the base. I hope no one starts looking through it._But if Lin saw anyone with it besides Naru, he would definitely stop them.

He unlocked the door next to him, and attempted to open it. No luck. Somehow it still wouldn't open. He leaned over and tried the driver side door. Again, it wouldn't open.

Wait... '_Good night, children.'_

Child locks.

* * *

Takigawa made it inside without bursting into laughter. When he got upstairs, Lin, Ayako and John were in the base, which was now unlocked. 

"I don't know. But it would seem I lost a bet." Ayako was saying to John.

"Oi." Takigawa said. Ayako looked up.

"Wait... Was Naru upset about Mai staying outside? Did you work out a solution?" She asked, jumping up from the couch, with sudden new hope that she didn't owe but was owed.

"Yes, and yes." he smiled. "Then, I offered to stay out with her, and he got more upset. So I suggested he stay. I didn't actually believe he'd say yes." he smiled.

Ayako punched the air. "Yes! Thats means I did win! That means you owe me!" She pointed a John.

John frowned. "I didn't actually bet though." Ayako sighed.

"Details..." She shook her head. John smiled, and shrugged. "How do you know he wont just bail at some point tonight in favor of inside?"

He winked. "The children aren't going anywhere until I let them." he laughed and grinned, holding the remote up.

"Child lock?" John asked.

Takigawa was still laughing, but managed a nod. Ayako joined in. "So mean of you!"

"I guess we'll find out in the morning what happened." Takigawa said, regaining his breath. _Mai may be able to hide sadness, but when it comes to embarrassment, she's like a book. With big letters. _

_Really big. _

_With small, unconfusing words._


	8. Clouds 8

Hey! Oiya! Chapter 8. I don't think theres much more to this story. I guess it depends how long I take with the things that happen next. Now I have a few comments for you reviewers. First of all, Tnakyou to anyone who took the time. It ,makes me feel happy/pecial/good. Thnakyou!. Next->_Waffo Eater_... No.. _Lost My Music_ is not better. _God Knows_ is sooo much better! I'm listening to it right now! Sorry to everyone else. But I love that song. Also, to you, _Miss Koneko... _You, have made my day! Perhaps even week! (yeah!) I was so happy upon reading something like that, that I actually have decided (drum roll) This chapter is dedicated to you! A big honour right? No? Oh well. Also, it was what made me decide to write this chapitre! Well, I was going to, but tomorrow. Every one else who sent a review, I really appreciate it. Seriously. Thank you for taking the time.

Sigh..

A note on child locks. There is usually a little switch on the doors, on the part that seals closed (At least thats what it was on the last car I saw child locks used on). Meaning the doors have to be opened in order to turn on child locks.

Disclaimer: Ghost hunt doesn't belong to me. If it did, I wouldn't have to worry about spoiler talking friends... they'd have to worry about me! But they don't, and I do, so I don't. But the other characters, (Sayo etc.) they do. But there are nor real spoilers about them for any of my friends to worry about..

hoo...

* * *

8- 

Naru was laying there, staring at the ceiling of the vehicle. He had been planning on going back in to maybe grab a blanket, or a pillow. Instead, there he was, locked in with neither of those. But also nothing to do except sleep. Mai in the back seat appeared to be having no difficulties, but she did have the blanket Naru had brought out.

Maybe if she were awake he might have some conversation... Not intelligent, but hey. Company, even for him, in this situation would be nice. Then there was the fact that the person the company would be was Mai...

Ah, but that would mean depriving her of much needed sleep. He wondered what Mai would think if she knew that he... Wait. Why did he care? Shaking his head, he looked out the front window.

The clock flashed 8:13. What was he supposed to do until he could fall asleep?

He looked at the windows. Power windows. If they weren't, he would have opened them then opened the door from the outside.

He kept thinking of ways to make his escape, but the vehicle seemed to be capable of fending each one off. Maybe Lin would bring something out for him to use to sleep.

Mai rolled over towards the inside of the seat, and her pillow slid to the other direction.

The idea to take it crossed his mind, but he didn't if she woke up partway through the night, what would she think of him?

Now what was this about what she thought? Did that mean that he cared what she thought? _I guess I do._ He sighed internally. Why was he admitting this to himself? Did it make a difference? No.

Yes.. it did.

_Whatever._ He thought, loosing the internal battle. He rubbed his eyes, and closed them. There was nothing better to do.

* * *

Back in the base, Lin stood up. "John-san, if you don't want to watch the cameras on your own, I'll stay here." 

John shook his head with a smile. "I said I would. No worries, I'll be fine on my own."

Takigawa, who was sitting on the couch talking with Ayako about nothing in particular, looked up. "Hey Lin, I don't suppose you have your room key back."

"No." he said, and sat down on the couch with a cup of Mai's tea. When they got in, Ayako had reheated it.

"Then I'll take him a blanket and pillow to exchange for the key." Lin nodded. Takigawa grabbed Masako's umbrella. He took the blanket and pillow off of Masako's bed, then headed outside.

* * *

Naru wasn't really asleep. But he did have his eyes closed. So he was mildly surprised to hear tapping on the window. Takigawa carrying a blanket and pillow. Naru unlocked the door, and Takigawa opened it. 

"These are only if you give me the key to your room. Lin's orders." Takigawa lied.

Naru didn't buy it, but did want at least a pillow. He pulled out his room key. Takigawa snatched it, shoved the blanket and pillow into Naru's face, and closed the door while he was still disoriented.

Takigawa smiled, seeing the young boss with mussed hair, and anger all over his face. Somehow it was like teasing an animal in a cage. You don't really realize the danger until its out, and after you. Although in this case, the 'caged animal' had a much better memory than a real one. Takigawa waved, and smiled as he walked back to the building.

Naru shivered. When Takigawa thrust in the blanket and pillow, the cold air followed. The slamming of the door had the same effect. He sighed, watching the breath crystals that spiraled out. Really cold.

Turning his head back, Mai was shivering too. She shuffled a bit, tightening the blanket around her shoulders.

Of course, Naru couldn't just watch that. He separated the blanket and pillow. He spread the blanket out as best as he could over the driver's side seat, to see what the temperature was without it. It was much to cold to sleep in a car without heat.

Naru pulled off his jacket, and laid it over Mai. It was still warm, so when he placed it over her, she stopped shivering a bit. But now he was cold.

He grabbed the blanket, and pulled it over. Because it had been spread out, it was colder than it had been. He pulled it over himself evenly anyway, and stared at the clouds.

It was really dark out already because they covered the sun. But they weren't even made out of solid material.

They were dark today. Some days clouds were pale, and bright. But these ones were dark, and heavy looking. The rain on the windshield distorted their shapes. And even if they were so dark, they all had different fluffy shapes that completely interlocked to block out the sun.

He closed his eyes. And listened to the rain.

* * *

Mai was back inside the inn. But this was a room she hadn't been in before. She looked around. She was in a double bed. There were a few dressers, and the room had a sad feeling to it. 

She pushed the covers off, and climbed out._ I don't know how I got back into the Inn, but I'm not staying, _she thought. She opened the door, to find herself face to face with Kris.

"Serra?" he said. He had a tray with some food.

_No, I'm..._ "Come on! I want to show you something" Mai found herself saying.

Kris put a hand on Mai's forehead. It was the that she noticed she was just as tall as Kris. Meaning she was probably seeing a memory from Serra's point of view. "You still have a bit of a fever. Lay back down, and you can show me once you feel better."

"No, no, no, I feel good enough now!" Mai dashed through the door. She ran down two floors of the stairs to the kitchen, where she stared at a maid. It was the one who had been serving the dinners. What was her name again?

"Ah, Miss Serra. Can I get you anything?" She asked. She was just clearing a table.

Mai smiled. "Nothing now Sayo." She walked into the kitchen, and grabbed a knife. Mai realized the gray sweater on her waist, and recognized her outfit. It was the one Serra had been wearing during her last vision of them. _No! I don't want to see Kris' death with a first person view!_ Mai plunged the sharp knife through a few layers of the fabric around her waist, and folded the sleeves over top.

Kris chose that moment to walk into the kitchen. "Serra, come on." He grabbed Mai's arm forcefully, but carefully. After making it back into the room, he closed the door and sat her down on the bed. "You need rest."

Mai jumped back up. All of a sudden, she smiled. "No! I don't! No worries. Come follow me! I have something to show you!"

Kris put his hands on Mai's shoulders, and shook her softly. "Calm down! Please just calm down! You need rest!"

Mai pushed his arms off, and dashed through the door laughing. "No! Serra! Come back!" Kris followed. This time she ran up the steps to a door. It opened to reveal a flat roof, with a few chairs. Most of it had a railing around, but one side hadn't been put up yet.

"I know! I can feel it! Won't you watch?" Mai twirled her skirt, like a young child. Suddenly she understood. Serra thought that she could... fly? Emotions flowed through her. The earnest wishes that she could fly, and the belief that she could. She felt like everyone was trying to hold her down because they were jealous that they couldn't. She felt as though with only a moments concentration, she could bring forth wings made of air, wind and belief.

Kris grabbed Mai in a tight embrace. This only served as a weight. Which made her feel held down. "No! Calm down lets go back inside now!" She shoved him off, and retrieved the knife. Rage over flowed. Mai hadn't felt that angry for a long time. Possibly never before.

"No! Nobody believes me! Nobody cares! And I know it will work!" Mai started to swing out. She hadn't had any experience with knives, but the rage driving her was enough. Just as much as she believed she could fly, she believed she could take him down. Him and anyone else who tried to stop her. She caught his arm with the blade. Blood spattered onto her other hand.

Kris put his hand to the wound and covered it, trying to stop the flow. Mai swung out with the fatal blow. She didn't want to watch, but her eyes were glued at her target. Mai really wanted the dream to end.

"Serra... You can't actually..." but that was all he could say. Mai's knife found its way through him. Mai leaned over, and pulled the knife back out. She smiled, and dropped it. _There's no one who wants to stop me now, _she thought. _No! Somebody..._ Seeing the life seperated from Kris by her own hand, she wanted to cry.

Mai shook her head. "Nobody believed me. But I know truth from lies." Mai took steps towards the edge of the building. _No! I don't want to know what that feels like. I don't want to die! I don't..._

She stopped at the edge. One step to her demise. Mai opened her arms.

Air, wind and belief.

Suddenly she felt like she did have wings. _But... thats impossible! She actually did have..?_ Mai jumped.

For a breath Mai actually thought she may have been flying. Then gravity grabbed on and ripped the belief from her mind. The feeling of wings dissipated, and she felt imminent death.

_No! Wake up!_ Mai wished silently. "_Hah hah hah!" _It was the laugh that had been penetrating her thoughts while she was awake. Mai's spirit separated from the body just before hitting the ground. She turned to look, and was horrified.

* * *

Mai sat up. She couldn't remember what she had seen in the last moments of her dream, but she felt sick. 

She looked around. She was back in the car, and had not only a blanket she didn't remember, but a jacket she didn't remember. There was also a pillow discarded on the ground.

It was very dark in the vehicle. The clock on the radio proclaimed 2:07, in bright flashing green digits.

Naru was asleep on the passenger side, in the front seat. Upon closer inspection of the jacket, she noted that it belonged to Naru.

Mai breathed out. Her breath was visible in the shape of a swirling fog. Only then did she realize that it was so cold. The rain continued to patter on the windshield and roof. Mai placed a hand on the window, but immediately withdrew it. The glass was near freezing.

Resolving to get somebody to do something about the lack of heat, Mai carefully unlocked the door. She then pulled the release mechanism.

It wouldn't open. Maybe it was frozen?

Mai locked the door again, and rolled over to the other door. Same thing. She crawled over the center console, and tried the drivers side door. Just to be sure she had which way meant locked and which way meant unlocked, she switched it again, and tried. _Could it be..?_ She gasped. Child locks on every door?

Mai looked over at Naru. Did he arrange that? Maybe he turned child locks on on every door except the one right by him. So that she wouldn't be able to leave on her own, or something. _But why would that matter to him?_ It wouldn't, would it? Mai sighed.

Here was the problem. If she did it just right she might actually manage to open the door. If she did it wrong (which was more likely, she added), she would probably fall over onto him, effectively waking him up. Even if she got the door open, that would probably wake him up too, what with the rain and cold after all.

Mai sat in the drivers side for a minute deciding. She could always do nothing. She could sit around and wait for him to wake up. She could even try to go back to sleep.

But, even if she couldn't quite remember exactly what she had seen at the very last moment, she didn't want to risk seeing it again. All that remained from the incident was a painful, unknown terror.

She decided to go for the door. Carefully poising herself on the center console, with one leg on the ground in the backseat for support, Mai reached over towards the locking mechanism. She switched it to the unlock position. It was a bit of a strain. She could barely reach it.

Mai then carefully pulled herself back up. One step down. She hadn't really thought of how to actually get out of the door if she got it open. _I'll cross that bridge when I get there_. She thought.

Mai leaned over again. This time she was reaching for a lower target, and as such, bent further over. Her head brushed against the blanket that covered Naru. Hopefully he was a heavy enough sleeper. She turned her head to the side, and leaned a bit further. Her gaze wandered to his sleeping face.

She almost paused to look for a moment. Then her hand touched the side of the vehicle. She tilter her head up to look. She would have to reach farther. She leaned back to the center console. She brought her other leg up underneath her. She pushed off, took hold of the arm rest on the door, and reached for the latch to open the door.

Mai was prepared to jump right over him when the door opened. She carefully grabbed hold of the latch, and started to pull softly.

She pulled it out all the way. Nothing happened. _Maybe I moved it too softly, or its a little to cold to open. _Mai leaned farther over, and pulled much harder on it.

_No way! Neither of us can get out of here until Bou-san or someone else comes and opens it? I don't even know what time they get up at!_

Suddenly Mai realized she was in a bit of a precarious position. She had too much weight on her arms to carefully lean backwards, but if she forcefully swung herself back, she would probably hit her head on the roof.

So her choices? Land on Naru, or hit head on roof.

Mai chose the latter. It would be much less painful, right? Who knows what Naru would say, or do, if she fell on him.

If she didn't over shoot at all, Mai would be okay.

1, 2...

Mai shoved herself off the door. _Perfect!_ She thought. It was too soon to say anything. She had over shot it. But there was no way she would lurch forward. If she overshot _that_ the outcome would be much worse.

No, instead, she fell back, hit her head on the roof and then proceeded to to hurt her feet/ankles. Her feet got caught in the crack between the seat and the center console. When she fell back he hyper extended both of them.

"Ahh!" She cried, perhaps a bit louder than she intended. Her cry was followed by a bit of a whimper when she was only able to pull on of her feet out of the crevice. The other one continued to be pulled beyond it's flexibility.

Naru woke up at the sound of the cry. "Mai?" he asked groggily.

Mai wasn't listening. Tears started, and she whined a bit more. With a bit of shuffling, she pulled out her foot. But it still really hurt.

"Mai?" Naru had opened his eyes, and had seen the pain in her features.

She jumped back a bit again, and hit her head on the window. "Ah!" She cried again.

With all the movement, and nervousness, it wasn't so cold any more. Mai sighed again. "Sorry. I got my foot caught when I was checking the doors." Not a lie, just a bend of the truth, right? So he would realize _exactly_ what she did, unless he wasn't really asleep... no, he was.

He sat up. "Lets see your foot then." Mai leaned back and rested the more hurt ankle on the center console.

Naru looked at it. It was already swelling a bit. There was no doubt that she had hurt it badly. "You'll probably not want to be walking on it."

"No. Really." Mai sighed. She was feeling upset, and a little bit off. The emotions Serra had felt at the time, during the dream, had become Mai's emotions. She had never felt so angry at anyone, and she didn't want to ever feel like that again.

Naru was sightly surprised by the sarcasm, but didn't say anything. Mai swung her leg down, and grabbed her pillow, the blanket, and Naru's coat. She sat down, in the still upright driver's side seat. She suddenly wished she had a pen and paper. Serra's feelings were fresh in her mind, and were perfect for completing her poem.

With a dissatisfied sigh, she started plotting out what she would use, how she could make it rhyme, and anything else she could plot without paper. It would be at least 5 hours before any one might come, so she had plenty of time.

But she didn't use all of it for planning. After about 5 minutes, she fell back asleep. Naru, however, just sat in the vehicle, unable to sleep now that he had been woken. He watched her thinking, then slumping over to get more comfortable, then falling asleep, resting on the arm rest covered with a pillow.


	9. Clouds 9

So yeah. Yeah. I'm back. With a new chapter I'm really sorry. I was gonna post it yesterday, but stuff came up. ie, The con. I bought myself some nice HUUUGE Tsubasa poster. Its really pretty. didn't get home till late because we missed the last good bus. OH!! And I'm going on vacation (Agains't my will" for two more weeks. Im hoping to come hoome ealier, but i dont know as of yet.

I'm really sorry about the long wait. It was hard to write this. I was originally going to post a very short chapter for the effect, but I like this better. So anyway. Yeah. I love all the comments you guys are leaving... they make me happy. So please keep reading! (Well now that I look, it is a bit shorter...)

NEW--HAHA!!! You know what? I forgot the last stanza of the completed poem... so I added it in. That was stupid. I'm glad I memorized it when I worte it because that was important! wow... i feel stupid. Ahh...hooo nywho

Disclaimer- I don't own Ghost hunt. Nope. So yeah. I do own my original characters and such, (Ai, Noon and the like)... Noon is actually the name of the main character in an original story I have been writing (For no real reason, just writing)... But yeah. That has no relevance. Besides a similar appearance.

* * *

9- 

Mai woke up from a dreamless sleep at 7:47. She felt very refreshed. Compared to how hard it had been for her to stay awake before, she felt like she could to anything.

Naru had his eyes closed, but he wasn't asleep. "Hey, Naru." He opened his eyes and acknowledged she was speaking. "Why are the doors locked?"

"Takigawa-san deemed it necessary."

Mai laughed a bit to herself. Obviously Takigawa had been intending for something to happen. But what was he expecting with Naru anyway? _I wonder when he will be back to let us out..._

Mai stretched her arms forward, carefully avoiding the steering wheel. The last thing she needed was the horn to go off.

Mai and Naru waited in silence. Naru closed his eyes again, but Mai simply sat and stared out the window, attempting to retain the feelings that would help her with her poem. She had it figured out. Now all she needed was her paper...

Maui saw the door of the Inn open. It was now 7:53. Takigawa slowly walked through the crisp morning air. The rain had stopped about an hour ago, so he carefully traced around the edges of the puddles.

It became obvious that he was stalling when he spent 20 seconds glaring at a puddle that refused to evaporate fast enough for him to walk strait. Naru knocked on the window. Takigawa ignored it, and tapped his foot impatiently at the puddle.

Mai sighed and looked up to the sun wishing it would hurry up. She didn't want to lose what she come up with.

Takigawa finally seemed to think It wasn't happening fast enough and stepped over the puddle. He strolled over to the driver's side and opened the door for Mai. "Good Morning." he let her out, and closed the door without removing the child lock.

Both of them started heading towards the Inn. Mai didn't even notice Naru didn't get let out until they were halfway there. She swatted her hand at Takigawa's head (and missed) before dashing back and opening it. Takigawa waited for the two of them to catch up before continuing to walk.

"Very funny." Mai said. Naru was silently deciding exactly what his retribution would be.

"Aww, don't be mean, especially after I brought breakfast to the base for you both." Mai seemed appeased. Naru was still debating his choice of punishment.

When they reached the base, Masako was sitting on Mai's couch. She appeared to be fuming about something. Ayako was sitting in a spare chair with a cup of tea or something. Lin was at his computer. John was watching the monitors that were lined up against the wall. Mai smiled. "We're back." Everyone had already seen them, but she felt like saying it anyway. It felt good.

"Its good to see you, Mai-san" John said. "Are you feeling better?"

Mai nodded, and walked to her bag. There was some food on the table, but Mai didn't really feel hungry. Neither did Naru it seemed. He sat down at his desk and started up his computer. While he waited for it to boot up, he looked over at the row of screens. From his angle he couldn't tell if Ayako or Takigawa had put the microphone back in the same place.

Mai pulled out her poem, and sat down on the couch. Masako turned away, and moved as far as she could away from the part timer.

Other times, Mai might have been offended, or might have said something, but she had to get out her ideas before she lost them, or the feelings behind them. Sitting down with that piece of paper was like pressing play on a CD layer. The melody she had been using to trigger the feeling she thought was necessary to write about wings and flying and such started to float around for a moment before she started writing.

Then the pen hit the pen hit the paper and all that she could hear was her breathing.

_If I had a pair  
Of pretty white wings  
I'd take to the sky every day_

_The longer I stare  
The more my heart sings  
To be able to just fly away_

_I'd miss the earth never  
When I'd take to the sky  
Maybe forever there I'd stay_

_All Ties I'd sever  
With the earth as I fly  
No one'd care anyway  
_

Mai pulled back. She loved it. Ayako was interested slightly in why Mai just started writing. "What's that?" Ayako asked, intrigued.

"Oh!" Mai said, folding the sheet. "Yeah its nothing. I just remembered something I have to do school."

"Do your homework on your own time." Naru said, writing something out on his computer.

Mai growled a bit. "I'm already done, and it only took a few moments. I don't even have anything to do." She stood up, and put it in a side pouch in her bag and started to zip it up.

Mai stopped halfway through. When she had been of the premises of the inn, the weird invasive feeling in her head had subsided, but now it was back... and...

_Hah hah hah!_

Mai was gone. Serra had fully taken control.

It felt wonderful to have a body again. Not only that, but this one wasn't racked with the pain she could remember from her final days. "I'll be back." Serra said in Mai's voice. It was a bit weird for her to speak for someone else.

Masako had noticed. Takigawa, who had been flipping through some of the pages Mai had sorted earlier, had also noted something odd about Mai. Ayako caught on when Takigawa looked up from the sheets towards the door.

Masako had a problem. The right thing to do would be to immediately tell everyone she had been possessed by a spirit. But... She was upset with Mai. She had a feeling that if she said it, Naru would be up immediately to go help or something. She didn't want to see that happen.

She couldn't stand it.

"Hey, Masako," Takigawa asked, trying to see if Masako thought it was Mai who had just walked out of there, or someone else in her skin, "was it me or did Mai seem a bit... off?"

Masako was fairly surprised that he had caught on. But she had her hand to her mouth, and replied. "Perhaps it has something to do with what she's been through lately." Not a lie, so not as bad as one, right?

Takigawa frowned. That could be perceived as both possible answers. He wanted to ask strait out _'Is Mai possessed or not?'_ but Masako still hadn't figured out about the microphone. "I guess. Yesterday was a bit of a surprise.

Ayako frowned too. She had seen what Takigawa was trying to get Masako to do. She wanted to try herself, but they couldn't get the medium suspicious

* * *

Serra opened the door and left. Closing it firmly behind her. 

Sure. There were drawbacks to human bodies. They can't walk through walls. They were limited to only be able to climb as high as the ground below them allows. But it was quite something to breath again. It was an interesting feeling to deprive herself of oxygen, and then start panting.

She stopped fooling around, and began to work her way up a set of stairs to the third floor.

Serra glanced down the hall. She rarely came to the third floor. It was always Noon who went to check on the guests.

No more wasting time! It would only be a bit before they got suspicious, and the girl was fighting for control. Serra tripped on the stairs when she could have sworn she had moved her foot, but Mai prevented it. At the top of the stairs, Serra opened the door and stepped outside. Mai was in submission again.

There was a bit of a morning breeze. It was crisp still. Serra could have stood there appreciating cold until She felt Mai try to take over again.

Not a chance for the poor girl. But what now? She _had_ promised a fast trip out in an ambulance, but how to grant it...

The railing had not been put up yet on the one side of the roof. She started walking over to edge.

* * *

Takigawa was frustrated. There was no way to get Masako to say anything. Did she want something to happen to Mai simply because of a little jealousy? 

He couldn't stand it. Somebody had to tell the entire crowd.

"Mai has gone to the third floor, and continued onto the roof." John said, pointing at a screen connected to a camera they had set up in the hall upstairs the previous night.

It dawned on Masako. The spirit who had Mai was the mentally unstable Serra. And that meant that Mai was now in danger to repeat history.

Takigawa frowned. The same thought as Masako flashed through his head. Masako was torn. It would be the right thing to do, but... she couldn't say anything.

"I'm gonna go make sure she doesn't do something stupid." He said, and left. Masako felt awful. She really wanted to tell them. But, something prevented her from doing it.

Ayako had figured it out too. It was driving her mad. There was no longer any time. "Why is Takigawa-san going so fast?" John asked, staring at Takigawa's figure on the screen.

Ayako stood up, exasperated with Masako's childish behavior. "Thats enough. Masako, Takigawa and I heard your conversation with Mai the other day." She turned to Naru. "Mai's possessed. Probably by Serra." She ran for the door, not bothering to close it.

Masako looked downcast as Naru, John and Lin all dashed out the door.

_I feel... horrible. Mai is at least partly a friend._ Masako started to hold back the tears. _How could I have..._

* * *

Takigawa was on the roof when Serra started stepping towards the edge. "Mai!" Serra turned around. Just like the last time, someone was going to stop her. Where was her knife? Why hadn't she grabbed it? 

"I warned her." Serra said. "She failed to comply."

"Who's she?" Asked Takigawa walking towards Mai. If he kept making Serra believe he didn't know...he grabbed Mai on her shoulders, and looked her strait in the eyes.

But the great view _of his _eyes gave it away to Serra. "You know already. Get out of my way or I can't be responsible for what my anger makes me do." she warned.

"Don't you dare hurt Mai, or I can't be responsible for what happens to _you_." Takigawa was referring to what Naru would do, but there was no way the spirit would know that. What would Naru do? Probably jorei, or something just in general painful.

"You can't do anything to help her can you?" She smiled and pushed him away. "Not without damaging her body."

Takigawa _couldn't_ do anything. No matter how much he wanted to help Mai, There was no way for him to know what kind of damage he would do.

The door to the roof opened again. Serra found it infuriating that more people were trying to stop this girl from getting hurt than came for _herself_ when _she_ committed suicide.

_Maybe it has to do with the fact that you're the one doing the killing..._ A voice in her head suggested. _But _I_ was the one who killed myself too!_

_Not quite the same thing. Murder and suicide are viewed differently._ said the other inner voice. _Yeah.. yeah. Whatever. It made sense to me._

"Its too late!" Serra said. "You guys are on the wrong side to do anything!" It was true. No one stood between her and the edge. Serra started dashing now. The plan was to jump, then separate herself from Mai's body, leaving her all alone to fall.

No stopping this time before jumping. She made it to the edge and jumped.

Masako came through the door with enough time to see Mai jump and the spirit float up and out of her. The spirit watched her fall. Naru ran to the edge and tried to grab Mai's hand, but missed just barely. He was probably going to jump himself, had Masako not burst out in tears. "It's my fault." she cried. Naru looked down. Mai hit the ground.

* * *

Mai was a bit disoriented when she got back into her own head. Serra had managed to completely prevent Mai from telling her surroundings once they had gotten on the roof. The lack of ground below her feet was a bit of a surprise. She didn't make a sound though. Things seemed to be moving at a surreal pace. 

There was also movement. She was moving at a fairly fast rate arcing downwards. She instinctively reached up. Following her gaze with her hand, she saw she just missed an extended hand. She looked up the arm of the hand. There was Naru. He looked... Mai couldn't tell. He was already gone.

Mai figured it out. She was falling. Time corrected itself. It seemed to speed up extra to compensate for the lapse. The fast approaching ground looked unforgiving. Mai closed her eyes. "Help..." she cried softly. The unfogiving ground was approaching fast.

Mai clawed upwards as if it would help.

Suddenly, it felt like someone grabbed her arm, and tried to slow down the falling. But teh person was also pulled down themselves. There was no one there. Mai hit the ground much less hard than she expected.

That's not to say it didn't hurt.

Her arm had been squeezed too hard, and it had a red mark forming where two hands had wrapped around it. Mai started trying to sit up. A voice softly called. "She's still awake! Hurry!"

She then started feeling the pain in her left leg. After that it was like a large wave of pain everywhere, and she fell over.

* * *

"Masako?" John asked, being the only one who didn't understand completely. 

"I knew. If I had told you all earlier..." Naru didn't say anything.

Masako felt awful. She could tell her situation with Naru wasn't going to get any better, so she just ran off. Takigawa had gone to the edge of the building. "She's still awake! Hurry!" Everyone except Ayako and Naru left.

Ayako put a hand on his shoulder. "Mai's like a weed. No matter how much damage you do to it, its always back in a week."

Naru wasn't slightly comforted by the Miko's words. They started off down the stairs and had soon caught up with the others.

Mai had fallen off a building.

_No really_. He thought.

On the second floor, Ayako went into the base and called for an ambulance.

* * *

Serra had seen what escaped the view of the others. While she was waiting for Mai to get severely injured, something slowed her down a bit. Or rather, _somebody_ grabbed her arm and tried to stop her from getting hurt. 

That girl had one amazing guardian angel. "Why could no one do that for me?" _Maybe guardian angles don't help psychotics or when you are suicidal, or after you killed someone else._ Serra was upset that her mind was actually still logical. She hadn't been dead long enough to completely lose that.

But maybe that would change sooner if she tried.

* * *

When they got to Mai, it was obvious that she had broken her left leg. When she fell she crumpled to one side, and so a few stones lodged into her skin. 

Everyone stood there, just looking. Naru leaned down and checked for a pulse. It was there. Weak, but there. Another examination of her body led his eyes to her arm. It looked like it had been grabbed tightly. But when he had tried to grab her arm, it wasn't there.

What had happened?

Ayako came around the corner, but didn't come far. She didn't want to see Mai's body, scared it might be dead, or that she might see that it was hopeless to do anything. "There was a false alarm relatively close. The ambulance will be no more than 2 minutes."

Two minutes would be an unbelievably long time to wait.

* * *

The ambulance had arrived. 

But now there was a more difficult problem. Who would go with Mai to the hospital? Going on her own was out of question, and Naru couldn't go. He wanted to get rid of that ghost himself. Painfully

John and Masako would still be needed too. Masako in order to communicate with the ghost, and John in case someone else became possessed.

Ayako spoke up, seeing Naru's discontent with the situation. "I'll go." She walked over to the ambulance. Part of her said that she volunteered because she thought herself useless.

But watching over Mai was important. And sine Naru couldn't go himself.

"Alright." He turned his back as the ambulance pulled away.

Who could watch that happen?

_The ghost would pay._


	10. Clouds 10

So yeah. Like I said. I'm trying for the 10th chapter while on vacation

So I bet you guys have no idea what comes next eh? Ehehehehe... I do!.. ... ... well obviously right? Nywho! I'm really appreciative for the comments. It means a lot. I really mean it! THX! Keep reading!

I don't really have much to say. Vacation is nice, but here I am, doing my best for everyone else.

By the way! No idea how hospitals work in Japan. I haven't even been to a hospital when I was the injured one... But I have been a lot of times for others...So yeah... for lack of knowledge, and ease of read, It will be a hospital that runs like a north American one... more like Canadian (eh!)

Disclaimer: I don't own ghost hunt. Sad I know. But yeah. I'm doing this for the sheer fun of having doing something with pre-created characters. Yay for no imagination! Ahah no I'm just a dork... don't mind me.

* * *

10-

About an hour after arriving at the hospital, Mai woke up. They had already taken care of her leg. At first it was a bit weird. She had seen other members of SPR shipped off to the hospital mid case. But never herself.

It was also a bit of a shock considering she didn't remember an ambulance. There was a building, and she had been looking up... She must have fallen unconscious.

The room was white, but it also gave off a feeling of blue. Somehow the atmosphere gave off that sort of aura. There was a knock on the door.

Ayako peered in, followed by a doctor. "Mai..." They walked in. Ayako sat on the side of the bed, and took Mai's hand.

"Ayako..." She said. There was not much else to say anyway.

The doctor looked at information streaming form one of the machines in the room. "Taniyama-san, you had quite a fall. From what it sounds like, off the roof of the third floor?"

"Yes." She said. Ayako's grip tightened a little.

"Then it's amazing you're as unharmed as you are!" Mai examined herself. She had scrapes, cuts, and a cast on her leg. That, and she was in pain. Seeing the needle in her arm, she was probably on painkillers as well. Her arm was red a bit too, as if it had been squeezed. He pointed at that very mark. "Someone grabbed your arm. Although, if they held on from the roof, that shouldn't have had much effect on the fall, and you would have been injured more. Something isn't right. Do you remember how you got that?"

Mai thought for a moment, and pulled out of Ayako's grip.

Ayako knew that it hadn't been there when she had jumped, yet when the rest of SPR arrived on the ground, it was there. There was no logical explanation.

"I don't remember... but it wasn't there before I fell." Mai said. Maybe it had something to do with the spirits residing in that house. It seemed really obvious that that might be it. But then Mai realized, only to her group, and maybe a few other weird people like them, would 'spirits' be a logical explanation. If she were to go on about spirits, who knows what the doctor would think.

Ayako looked at Mai. It wasn't the first time she had seen someone from SPR in the hospital. It was a dangerous line of work. But it was Mai's first time. She looked much less cheerful wearing a seriously thoughtful expression in a hospital gown, with a cast on her leg and a needle in her arm.

"All right. If you want, I can look into what made that mark." Mai shook her head.

"May I have some time with my friend?" She asked.

The doctor checked his watch. "Okay, but I'm going to be sending a nurse in 5 or so minutes to check on you. And it's probably best to sleep if you feel tired at all." Mai nodded, and he retreated.

Ayako turned to her. "Do you have any real idea of what may have happened?" Mai figured as much. She had thought about spirits being the cause too.

"I think a spirit may have grabbed my arm. Not an angry one. It was trying to stop me from falling at all. I didn't want to say. The doctor might have thought I hit my head really bad or something..." She was tired. But she had to talk for at least a bit.

Ayako nodded. "All right. I figured that might have been it. You know, you do look tired. I'll go and..."

Mai cut her off. "Stay please!" She said.

Ayako grabbed the covers and pulled them up to Mai's chin. Mai thought it was almost a motherly sort of action. It was nice, after being without one for a while. "I'll stay. But you have to sleep."

Mai nodded, and closed her eyes.

A nurse popped her head in the room. "Ayako Matsuzaki-san? There's a phone call from your work."

* * *

Takigawa was pacing around the base. Masako got the room to herself, and he took over Mai's couch. He did feel a bit bad about that. It was almost like accepting that she wouldn't be back.

Not that she would be, but still.

John was looking at the screens, monitoring the inn. Naru was at his computer, Lin was phoning the hospital to see how Mai was, and Masako was looking for Serra and Kris.

Currently, she was on the roof. John watched the screen intently. Masako was saying something. But was she talking to herself or to Serra? After what happened with Mai, the camera monitoring the first floor hall was moved to the roof. With two extension cords, it was aimed at the side Mai had fallen.

Masako left, and returned to the base.

"Serra won't respond. She's ignoring me." Nobody wanted to say anything. Somehow Masako felt even worse. "I'll be in my room." She turned away, fast enough that nobody could see the tears. As she closed the door, she brought her hands to her eyes. John, being the only one at the cameras, saw. _She really does feel bad... _

Someone tapped her on the shoulder. Masako looked up. It was Ai Asuka. "Hara-san?"

Masako smiled again, ever the professional. "Oh, I'm sorry. It's nothing." _I am sorry... Mai_. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Ai nodded. "On the roof. You couldn't talk to Serra could you?" Masako nodded. This time she was a bit suspicious. "I can talk to her. Please. Come with me."

"Okay..." Masako followed the younger girl up the stairs. John noted on the screen, that something didn't seem right. Ai, whom he hadn't met yet, didn't seem to walk quite right... it was similar to... Mai!

"Naru... we hve a bit of a problem. I think another guest has been possessed... This girl. She seems to walk a lot more like a guy than a girl." Takigawa saw the screen.

"Naru, even better chance of being possessed. It's Ai!" For the second time, he ran out the door first. The Masako on screen collapsed. John watched her stand back up, and then begin angrily talking to the younger girl.

Takigawa was already on scene.

"Masako?" It was just like with Mai. There was a dead sort of feel to her eyes. Looking at Ai, it was the same.

"Shut up you!" Ai said, glaring. "Its enough now okay! That last girl might die you know! You are a failure! Just because you can't give up!"

"That's not what happened! Nobody understands why! Nobody would even listen! Nobody here knows why I did it. No one here believes me!" Masako shouted. Naru and John were on the roof. "And now the whole crew is here! Well guess what! Kris is going over the edge! First time for you? Then here's some advice! If you stay with that girl, you will feel her pain." Masako, even if she was frail looking, was stronger than Ai. Masako pulled her to the edge.

_Not this again!_ Takigawa ran to separate the two of them. Masako was not as strong as Mai, and so was easily stopped. Ai pulled back and glared. "You will not take more lives!" Ai fell over, her eyes closing. Masako similarly went limp in Takigawa's grip.

John came over and took Masako. Naru also came to her. Takigawa took Ai. "So Ai was possessed by Kris, and Masako was possessed by Serra." Takigawa said. "From what I heard, all we have to do to make her move on is find out what she thought, and say that we believe it with enough conviction. Then Kris will pass on as well." _Is that okay Naru? The painless way I mean?_ Naru's expression was as unreadable as ever.

* * *

When Ai woke up on Mai's bed she was a bit shocked. The last thing she remembered was sitting in her room with some juice. The next shock was the presence of the team Mai worked for, but the lack of Mai in the room.

But her stuff was on the ground, so she had to be somewhere near. "Umm... Can someone tell me what's going on?" Ai asked, Sitting up and yawning.

Takigawa filled her in. "We found you on the floor in the hallway again." he lied. No reason to tell her she was possessed by a ghost and almost thrown off of a building by someone also possessed. Naru suggested that lie. It was the only thing they could do for her.

"Oh... the last thing I remember, I was in my room..." She trailed off, looking at the ceiling. "Oh well. I don't feel any different..." _But that weird presence thing. It doesn't seem to be gone either... Maybe it's just in my head..._

"Alright then. You can probably go back to your room now. But if something happens, call for us okay?" Ai nodded and exited. She figured Naru had probably sent Mai on another menial quest of sorts.

Masako, who had been sitting on a chair in the room thought about Mai. _I need to apologize to her._ "I'll be back soon." Masako left for her own room. Once their, she picked up the phone book, looking for the hospital Mai was at.

Once she found it, she dialed. "Hello. May I please speak with patient Taniyama Mai? Tell her it's a _friend_ from work." her voice hitched when she said friend. _How can I call myself that?_ The nurse on the other side paused a moment.

"I'm afraid she's still asleep. Would you like to speak to her doctor, or Ayako Matsuzaki, who is currently with her?" Masako nodded.

"Hello?" There was no way the nurse could have seen the nod.

"Oh right. Yes. I'll speak to Matsuzaki-san." There were about two minutes of silence.

* * *

The nurse opened the door again to Ayako's room. "You've got another caller. It's from Taniyama-san's work this time." Ayako nodded, and followed the nurse to the desk in the wing they were in. The nurse wore standard loose white clothes. She had shoulder length strait black hair pulled into a tail. Her eyes were brown. She walked lightly, making very little noise as she did.

The nurse didn't know they worked together. "Oh, that's right. I'm a friend of Mai's from work as well!" She told the nurse.

"Really? I thought you were her mother. But we have a bit of a problem in that case. I'm going to need a parent or legal guardian to talk to. To make sure they know of their child's condition."

Ayako thought for a moment. For a parent they were out of luck. Same with _legal_ guardians. But if a plain old guardian would do, Naru fit the position.

Come to think of, Mai _didn't _have any sort of legal guardian... she lived on her own. She made her own way through life with her own hard earned money. "I'm sorry to say, but I don't believe there is anyone who really qualifies. Mai's an orphan. She lives on her own now too."

The nurse frowned. "Well, I need someone to do the forms for her. Because she's a minor. What about her boss?"

_What if her boss is a minor as well?_ "I guess that would probably work..."

The nurse handed her the phone and pressed a button. "Hello?"

"Matsuzaki-san..." came Masako's feeble voice."How in Taniyama-san?"

This sentence was a bit of a thing to hear. Masako was calling them by last names now? "Masako-Chan? Is there a problem? Mai isn't angry at you..." Even if she was angry at Masako, it was clear that Masako knew this and was being cautious. Masako was ashamed. It came clear in her voice.

"Mai doesn't know what I did."

Okay. That was true, "But Mai would never, ever get angry at you about that. She would accept your apology even if it was forced, and could be seen right through by anyone. Mai is forgiving. She isn't one to..."

Masako cut her off. "I know. I'm not concerned about that. She would accept any apology. She's so polite. But even if she says she accepts it, a person's eyes say their true feeling. I would never be able to look into hers again for fear of what I might see."

_Masako..._ Ayako was so sorry for her. It must have been hard to be unable to say anything. "I forgive you. Completely." Ayako said. "You will be forgiven by every one else too. If you're really that worried about Mai, just make sure to make some time to talk to her afterwards, okay? Stop in at the office just to talk to her sometime. And don't spend that time apologizing."

Masako was in tears. Ayako could tell by the way she spoke. "I will." there was a soft click, and Ayako gave the phone back to the nurse.

"What if the boss is a minor as well?" the nurse looked up.

"Pardon me?"

"What if the boss is a minor as well?" Ayako repeated. "You said Mai couldn't sign her forms because she's a minor. Our boss is too."

The nurse sighed. "I don't even want to know what you guys do." After a few moments, "I guess that's okay. There isn't really any protocol for that situation."

Ayako held out a hand. "You already know my name."

"Komaya, Ako." she took the hand.

* * *

Masako put down the phone. She didn't feel the need to say goodbye. And even if Ayako forgave her, she had to apologize in person as well. It was quite a relief to talk to her.

"Masako... I forgive you as well." John's voice came from the door.

It was a bit of a shock for Masako. She didn't hear the door open. "Brown-san..." She couldn't use first names anymore. It hurt to think of herself as a part of their group now.

John shook his head. "I won't respond if you call me that ever again." He smiled. "Come on. I heard what Ayako said. She's right. And I forgive you. Let's go back now."

* * *

Mai slept for quite a while. She felt bad. The first thing that came to mind was that everyone was working and she was just sleeping. Even being injured, she felt she was wasting time sleeping. Funny, because when she really was wasting time, she felt okay about it.

Mai remembered hearing that dreams are the things that you wish for most earnestly. Her dream consisted of no pain. That was the best thing she could think of. Directly after that?

"Naru..." She saw him. It made her so happy to see him.

"I'm sorry." Dream Naru said.

Mai wondered what he was sorry for. "It was you, wasn't it?" It was odd to see Naru say that. Just more proof it wasn't Naru... just her dreams.

Even if she didn't have any pain, and her leg cast was nowhere to be seen, her arm sported the red mark from being squeezed too much. "It was thanks to you that I wasn't hurt more."

Dream Naru didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry to have made you worry. But I'm all right. Okay?" She smiled.

"Does that arm hurt?" Mai shook her head. It was wonderful to see Naru concerned. Even if it was the dream one.

"Nothing hurts here. Not injuries, not words..." she leaned back, and slept deeper than before. She was tired, even in her dreams. That was certainly quite tired.

"I'm sorry." Dream Naru said again. He paused, and touched the wound on her arm. "I couldn't hold on anymore. And you were still injured."

* * *

John and Masako re-entered the room. Takigawa looked up to see them. Masako looked fragile. The moment she walked in, he considered a glare, but thought better of it. The girl had gone through enough. She wouldn't even raise her eyes, scared to see what the other's expressions were.

Naru turned to see all assembled. "If all that is necessary for the passing on of both spirits is to help Serra pass on, then we will do so immediately, before something happens."_ Maybe a bit late for that_... "I would like to have someone with Ai Asuka at all times to prevent something from happening to her. It may be a similar situation to the one with Mai. We don't know if she has told us everything. Takigawa-san. You will go now to see her. Don't tell her of your motive."

Takigawa nodded and was gone. "Lin, stay here. You two will be attempting to convince Serra that you believe her. I will be looking for more information to help you determine what you are believing." he handed Masako a headset. She and John left.

Naru sat down at his computer and began searching. After barely 2 minutes, he picked up the phone and dialed the hospital. "Hello. May I speak to Taniyama Mai's doctor?" The nurse who picked up paused a moment.

"Can I ask who is calling?" She was typing on her computer. Naru could hear the keys.

"Her Boss." The nurse made an affirmative sort of sound. There was some silence, and then someone else picked up.

"This is Dr. Isuiro."

"May I ask about the current condition of one of your patients, Taniyama Mai? I'm her boss."

There was a bit of a pause. Some papers were shuffled. "I'm afraid that depending upon what you have her doing, she may not be able to work for a while. Her left leg is broken. Though there should be no problems with its recovery. She has a lot of cuts and scrapes from landing on a rocky surface. I get the feeling some will be infected because of debris we were unable to remove, but we have used some antibiotics which should help with that. She also has a large red mark on her wrist. Do you remember seeing that before?"

Naru still didn't know what to make of that mark. "Right when she was at the top of the building, before she_ fell_, I didn't see it." He wasn't going to tell the doctor she jumped while possessed. "I tried to grab her arm when she was falling, but I definitely missed. It was not there at that time. When we found her on the ground, it was."

The doctor 'hmmm'ed the resumed speaking. "It really depends upon what kind of work you guys do. It would seem that it involves traveling, so she probably won't be able to work for maybe a month."

"I am not as concerned about her ability to work as I am about her making a full recovery. We don't travel that often. Maybe once or twice a month. I will make sure that she has no issues getting the proper rest she needs to recover." Lin smiled a little as he heard Naru's speech.

"Thank you. Don't worry; she'll be out of the hospital in no time. Also, from what I hear, she has no parents or legal guardians. So as her boss, you're going to have to come in once she is ready to leave. I hope that won't be an issue." Naru almost smiled.

"No trouble at all."


	11. Clouds 11

So yeah. I spent yesterday at some cabin thing… wait.. no.. It's called 'The Lodge'. There was no power, but we only spent the night, so it was okay. In the evening, I got to go see this amazing pond surrounded by peat moss. Right where the pond started, there was a ledge and it went strait down! Apparently more than 2 meters (Metric!! WHOO!!). Also, the guy who owns the lodge made some paths through the forest… It was AMAZING!! There were four of us who walked it… I walked behind the guy who owned the lodge... because he had this old lantern… It was soo cool! So seriously! I rambled on about that for a reason, and it wasn't just 'cause. I think that for my next story it will be the setting! Yeah… I know… That's over here in Canada… and the story is set in Japan… I don't really care... All I could think about over there is how much it's the perfect setting! Because I already had a plot, but i needed...

Hey! Enough Author Ramblance! Join the HEAR campaign! There are pins in the back cupboard for those interested.

Oh… well… um… I guess it's a bit late, but I forgot to mention… In the 9th chapter the poem was finished right? Well I forgot the last stanza. I did add it before I posted the 10th chapter, so you may have seen it, but there was supposed to be four stanzas. If you don't want to bother looking back, don't worry! The poem shows up again in the 12th chapter. So yeh. This isn't the end. But it is coming…

Also, today Im going over the earlier chapters as well, starting with 2, and I hope to get to 8.

Disclaimer: I don't own ghost hunt. Neither 1000 (percent symbol) SPARKING (I used some lyrics) Nothing else needed right?

* * *

11- 

Masako and John came back to the base after looking around for a while. "We found her, but she was sulking. She wouldn't listen to anything either of us said. Actually, she probably couldn't hear us." John filled Naru in.

Masako sat down on Mai's couch. "Maybe if we all went out there we would get her attention. She seems to find it upsetting when everyone came the last two times." Masako suggested.

Naru thought for a moment. "Yes. At 12:30 we will meet back here, and then we will approach Serra together. Where is she?"

"The roof." Said John, pointing up unnecessarily.

Masako looked at a clock on the wall. 11:04. "What do we do until then?"

"Check all the equipment. Make sure it is running to full capacity. Also get a microphone on the roof." Naru returned his attention to his computer.

Lin stood up. "I will set up the microphone on the roof. Wait for Takigawa-san to return, and then arrange who will deal with the other floors." He grabbed a microphone, and left to do his job.

Takigawa caught the door before it closed, and walked in. "Takigawa-san. Check the cameras on the third floor." Masako said. "John and I will do the second and first." She walked out, followed by John.

Takigawa looked to Naru for a few moments. It became apparent that Naru was really focussed on whatever was on his screen. He would usually notice someone's gaze on his back. Maybe he was focussed on something else… something somewhere else.

Takigawa headed out the door and up the stairs.

Masako watched him while John cleaned the lens on the camera. "Do you know how to check cameras?" John asked, while he put the lens back in place.

Masako frowned. That seemed a bit odd for him to ask. But… "I don't want to make a mistake. Mai is the one who usually sets them up. I don't really know how."

John smiled. "Come here then. I'll show you how."

* * *

Takigawa stood on the third floor. Not only was he on his own, he had the most cameras to check. One in each room and then one in the hall. Weren't there only two in total on the first and second floors? 

_Bah! Mai's master key would really come in handy right now._ He knocked on a door. There was no response. He knocked again, louder. He tried the knob. There was no way to get into the room. How was he going to get in?

Takigawa wandered down to the first floor. On his way past, he noticed Masako and John huddled over the camera together. _Funny. I figured Masako wouldn't know how to do that._ He spotted Noon by the door, pacing. She had a cell phone to her ear. She was also shivering a bit.

As he got closer he could hear her talking too. "Oh. That's good news then. O- Okay. Thank-you." She hung up the phone and looked at Takigawa. "I was just calling the hospital to check on Mai. Apparently its not as bad as it could have been."

"That's good." Takigawa said. Noon nodded.

"I'm really sorry that that happened. I don't know what I can do for you guys. If I would have known that it would have been such a danger for you and your group I would have never asked you to go through that kind of risk." She bowed her head deeply. "I will not be upset if you were to pull out now. I understand that you may not want to remain here if…"

Takigawa interrupted. "I have no idea why you would think that we would leave now. We're closer than ever. Mai also knew this was a dangerous job when she accepted to be Na… I mean Shibuya-san's assistant. Its not the first time someone has had to go to the hospital either." Noon sighed with a smile. "But I need a favour. Shibuya-san has got me checking the status of the cameras on the first floor, and I need to get into the rooms."

Noon pulled out the other master key. "But I can't let someone else have this, even for a little while. I'm going to have to come with you. I won't impose on your work. In fact, I may help a little if you'll let me."

"Thank you very much. There should be one in all of the guest rooms as well as in the hallway." They walked up the stairs, passing John and Masako who were heading to their one remaining camera.

* * *

At 12:27, everyone except Naru was back in the base room. Lin was watching the cameras. Masako was drinking some tea that John had made for the group. It was the stuff that Mai had left behind. The one from her friend, not the _Strawberry Zap_ that she had used to stay awake. Takigawa was eating another sandwich. John was also enjoying some tea. 

"I'm going to quickly call the hospital. Just to make sure nothing unexpected has come up." Takigawa said. He looked at the clock. 3 minutes… He figured it wouldn't take that long.

Takigawa picked up the phone and a phone book, but Masako pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket. "This is the number for the hospital she is at." Takigawa looked at it.

_Masako called Mai at the hospital?_

He dialled the number, and a receptionist picked up. "May I please speak to Taniyama Mai?" Takigawa asked.

"Just one moment please." There was a sound, and another person picked up.

"Who is it you would like to speak too?" The new person asked.

"Taniyama Mai, or her guest Matsuzaki Ayako, if either one is available. It's a friend from work."

"Just hold on one moment. I think Taniyama-san might be asleep still." The phone was set down. Takigawa looked at the clock. 12:28. There was a very good chance that Naru would walk in the moment it turned to 12:30. He was the kind of person to do that.

After 15 long seconds, the phone was picked up again.

* * *

"Matsuzaki-san, the phone is for you again." Ako said, opening the door. 

"Thank-you." Ayako wondered just how many times people would call if _she_ was in the hospital. Probably not as many considering it was one of the youngest on team in the hospital. It was also a pretty bad accident. But who would it be this time? It wouldn't be Masako or Lin, they had already called. That left Naru, John and Takigawa. It probably wasn't John. Ayako just had the feeling. Naru? She really doubted Naru would want to talk to her. Maybe if Mai were awake he would talk to her, but he wouldn't call in for the person watching over her.

That meant it was… "Hello?"

"Ayako! How are you both doing?" Takigawa's voice came loud. Ayako held the phone a bit away from her ear.

He asked about them both! How sweet! "Mai's doing better than the doctor thought, but she has been asleep almost the entire time. She was awake for maybe 2 minutes earlier, just before Lin called, but that's it."

"You didn't answer my question." He said.

_Oh. Right. I didn't._ "I really don't like seeing her like that, but I'm doing much better knowing it'll be okay."

"Right. I don't have much time, so what did Mai say when she was awake?"

"She talked to the doctor. Once the doctor left… do you remember that red mark on her arm? She thinks she was grabbed by a spirit. Although I wouldn't tell Naru. Because I don't think it would be Kris, which would mean Mai has some sort of spirit stalker. Although… I guess in this case it's more of a spirit guardian." Ayako was just rambling. Ako looked at her kind of weird. Ayako held up one finger meaning _I'll explain in just one second okay?_

"Why is that?" Ayako figured there were others, like maybe Naru near, so Takigawa wasn't trying to say things which might compromise the ability to keep the information from Naru.

"Well, he really does care about her safety. Considering it helped her, I don't think there's any reason for him to get concerned. It might be a good thing for someone like her to have some spiritual help." Ako looked even more weirded out.

"I guess so… oh look at the time. I have to go then. Bye! I'll see you once we figure this out. We might be able to get it done today."

"Bye." Ayako said, and hung up the phone. "Oh well… I guess that sounded more than slightly odd, Komaya-san."

Ako nodded. "I'm sure this is a great story. Maybe you can explain what you guys do if you would actually accept that kind of reasoning from a girl who fell off a building."

"See, our boss is a Ghost Hunter. Taniyama-san works as an assistant but seems to have some psychic ability. The first person I talked to is… well… a something. He can do weird things. The second, the young girl, was a famous Psychic Medium, Hara Masako, And that was an Ex-Monk. I am a Miko, and there is a Christian Exorcist on our team as well." Ayako said, counting on her fingers.

"Uh huh. And you guys do what?" Ako Komaya was intrigued.

"We, and two researchers who occasionally help us, form the entirety of Shibuya Psychic Research, _SPR,_ and we Hunt Ghosts. Although, it's more like… dispelling spirits. That's a better way of putting it. We rarely have to bother to actually _hunt_, just appease the spirits."

Ako laughed. "Alright then. I guess you should tell the doctor about her arm. But I can see why she didn't tell him. Anyone that didn't understand you guys would have figured she was delusional." She smiled. "I do believe in that kind of thing. And if I ever have a problem with a ghost, I will make sure I get in contact with you guys."

Ayako laughed too. "Do that. But only if there _is_ a ghost, and you have good evidence of it. Our boss, _Shibuya Kazuya_," It sounded so dorky to call him that, "doesn't take just any case. And he tends to be a bit rude."

"I'll keep that in mind." Ako didn't really believe she'd ever have a problem with a ghost. In fact, she was just humouring Ayako when she said she believed in it, and would come to them if there was ever a problem. With a laugh to herself she turned back to her computer while Ayako walked back to the room Mai was in.

* * *

Takigawa hung up the phone when He heard footsteps in the hall. It was 12:29. The door opened right as the second hand made it around. 

Naru stood there. "Lets go." Lin stood up. Takigawa was directly after. He didn't really like the plan. There was no way it would be that easy after all that had happened. In his mind, they would need to know what the ghost so feverently believed. He was surprised Naru thought it might work.

Masako thought it would work. It was the best plan they had, and the fastest way to deal with this ghost before it lost its mind. She walked quickly, hoping that the rest of the group would follow suit. Nobody sped up, so Masako sank back into their pace.

The started the stairs.

John was leery about whether or not it would work. Masako seemed sure it would work, and she had probably dealt with these sorts of problems before. But Takigawa, who was older, seemed to be sure that it would not work. John sighed and prayed for the best.

They were at the top of the stairs, when Naru turned around. "Hara-san. I would like you to talk to Serra. It was your idea so try to convince her. Anyone else, if you have any ideas of what to say do so. If someone else speaks, let them talk until it looks like they might be in trouble." There were two nods, from Takigawa and Masako.

"Let's go." John said. They turned onto the second staircase that would lead to the roof.

* * *

Serra grumbled. There was no one around and she was feeling miserable. 

For herself.

She wanted to send those ghost hunters running when she caused injury to that one girl. She had really hoped they would have withdrawn when she tried to hurt that other girl, the one who had also listened in to the fight with Kris.

She looked down. The door to the roof had opened, and the 5 ghost hunters came into her view. She had been floating around above the building. The medium looked up and pointed at her.

Serra hovered down. "And what do you want now." She somehow felt that not all present could see her. She needed someway for that to be true. Best way? Possess that little girl from before. "Oh I get it. Don't mind me, I'll be right back."

"Wait!" Masako called. Serra was long gone. In that little girl's room, she saw the girl on the bed. She had some headphones on. Serra possessed the child. The music was loud.

_Kujiksou na kyou mo heiki seikou no go-byou mae  
__(I feel okay on a depressing today, at 5 seconds before success)_

She pulled the headphones out of the CD player and took them off her head. She examined the gadget, trying to see if she could figure out how to turn it off.

_Stupid things are much more complex these days. All they care about is 'make it small! Make it compact!'_ She gave up and left it on, heading for the roof. She opened the door, to find all the remaining SPR members staring at her. "Hello." She said.

"Serra." Masako said, stepping forward. "Please. You have to stop this. Hurting people is doing nothing to make them believe you. In fact, people will reject you even more."

That's not what Serra was expecting. She sort of liked this girl, Masako Hara, so she decided to tell her something interesting. "Hara Masako. That famous Medium. From what I can tell, most females in this building could ear the argument between Kris in me. Even that _girl_ whom I sent to the hospital could hear. You couldn't. Do you know why?"

Masako didn't say anything. She was hoping for a different reaction. Some surprise, maybe a little trust. But maybe Serra was explaining in order to create some sort of connectiopn between the two of them.

"I knew you were probably here to deal with me. I didn't know that about the other girl, so I didn't bother. That's why you couldn't hear. I prevented you from being able to."

Masako felt proud a bit. The ghost had recognized her, and thought that Mai wasn't important. "Serra, you need to realise you aren't helping. And the best thing for you to do is pass over."

Serra shook the girl's head. "No. You don't understand what it feels like to have no one believe you."

Masako could remember being little, and asking her parents who some people were, and why other people were walking through them. Until it had been realised that she was psychic, people thought she was a liar. "I do understand though. You know, when I was younger, nobody else could see what I could. I believe you. I truly do."

* * *

Takigawa was actually thinking that it might work. He looked at Masako earnest face. _Maybe that girl _will_ be able to convince Serra!_ He looked at Serra. 

Oh no.

He had been right. The ghost was going to need some proof. She knew that Masako had no idea what she was saying she believed.

Ai glared. "You have no idea what I believe do you. You have no idea at all why I killed the one I cared for most, and myself." She pointed at her. "You are the most terrible person. I really wish I knew how to curse people."

Masako stepped back, and covered her mouth with her hands. Ai ran right past her to the edge, but didn't jump. "I'll tell you now. That girl I sent to the hospital probably does know why. But hmm… she's sleeping right now isn't she? Maybe I did manage to curse her as I had intended."

Takigawa started moving towards Ai, but there was some kind of force coming from Serra preventing him from getting close.

"Now this is handy to be able to use. I might have succeeded earlier had I been able to use this. All this drama in one day…" She sighed. "If you guys approach me one more time, expecting me to believe your lies, or if you dare say you believe me with the wrong thing in mind, I will kill this girl. But this time, your stupidity will cost you, and her, nothing."

Ai fell forward. Masako watched Serra become her own spirit again. Serra hovered up and away, turning her back to the group.


	12. Clouds Finale

Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening/Night! Everybody, Welcome to the final chapter. Being 'final' like, this is a bit longer than usual, and so is the chapter. No worries though! If you're growling at the end, I do have an epilouge (or however you spell it.. dont worry I'll check!) that I believe will tie it up really well okay?... Well, maybe not. But I like my epilouge. I want to take this time to thank anyone who looked at even the first chapter. Anyone who skimmed it. Even if they didn't continue. And if they didn't contiue, they wouldn't see this. But I don't care. Also a big thanks to the reviewers. I appreciate it more than you know! I didn't get to the 8th chapter when I was re-editing the other day, I only made it to 6. And then I replaced them all. So if anybody notices that I accidentally made an error while replacing, I will see to it that it gets fixed. That's why I do that (#)- at the beginning of each chapter. 'Cause if it's the wrong one, you'll notice, right? Oh-kahye! the other thing? The poem? I did write it. . Although I made the plot to the story after writing the poem. Because yeah!.. um... inspiration?

Another thing you might not know, is that I update my profile nearly daily with information about how far I am, and plans that I have. And I always bold anything that's a new. At the top I keep a little thing that tells you when I updated it last. At the very bottom I have a message seperate from the profile that I put each time I update. Sometimes that's all I'll change. So yeah. Especially when I'm done with this story, If you'd be interested to read my next one, I will put latest info on it there before I get around to posting it.

Disclaimer: I don't own ghost hunt. I wonder if its really necessary for every chapter? I guess better safe than sorry. Especially since I has no money. This makes me no money either. So there's no problems right?

* * *

Finale- 

Takigawa ran over to Ai. Serra heard it, but didn't turn. She was quite happy. She didn't know how she knew that the girl at the hospital was asleep, but she did. Somehow her anger had manifested as a curse when she had forced the girl off the roof. Maybe that was also what had made the others unable to approach her, moments before.

Takigawa picked Ai up. "Naru. We can't just send this girl away. She's staying here right now and theres not much to do about that. We need a plan before Serra decides to make the first move."

Masako looked at Serra. "If Mai knows, then we have to wake her up. But she said she _thought_ Mai knew. Who knows if thats true. If we place all our faith in that, and it fails, what would we do? It could be a trick." She turned to Naru.

Or rather, where Naru was. He and Lin were now absent. Takigawa frowned. "I'll take Ai to the base. We should keep someone around her until we can exorcise these spirits. We don't know where Kris is, or what he is doing. And Ai is currently a target." John opened the door, and they left, followed by Masako.

She turned once more to look at Serra before closing the door.

"Hah ha ha!" Serra laughed. It was haunting.

* * *

Naru left immediatly after Ai fell to the ground. He almost ran to the Base, where he grabbed the phone. Lin arrived, having followed him, just after and told him the phone number he needed. 

"I need to speak to Taniyama Mai!" He told the receptionist. She switched it to another line where another receptionist picked up. Naru motioned towards the door as he repeated his statement. Lin locked it.

"I'm sorry, but she's still asleep. Can I ask who's calling?" She asked pleasantly.

"Matsuzaki-san then!" He said, irritated with her tone. The receptionist got the idea.

* * *

Takigawa carried Ai to the base. John tried the door. "Its locked." 

Takigawa looked to Masako. "Our room then." Masako nodded and pulled out the key.

Once inside, Takigawa put Ai on the double bed, and he walked over to the speaker. He had replaced the microphone and put it into the exact same place. Naru probably wouldn't have thought to look there again.

Dead silence came through the speaker. Takigawa turned up the volume. Nothing came through. Who would have..?

It must have been Lin.

"I've been wondering what that was for." Masako said. "What are you trying to do?"

John filled her in. "Its a microphone attached to a speaker in the other room."

Masako thought back to her conversation with Mai. "So thats how..."

Takigawa sighed. "I think Lin may have removed it this time."

* * *

"Matsuzaki-san? Theres another phone call, and it seems very urgent." Ako poked her head through the door. 

Ayako ran through the possibilities in her head. Naru or John? But then again, coinsidering it was supposedly urgent, it could have been anyone sent to call. "Alright then." She looked to Mai who was still asleep. But that was to be expected right? Considering she was quite injured. It may even take a day or so for her to wake up again.

She picked up the phone, with no idea who to expect. "Hello?"

"Go wake Mai up now." Naru's voice came.

"Naru?"

"Now. And I need to talk to her."

Ayako sighed. "She fell off a building okay? Give her some time to wake up again." Honestly sometimes...

_"Go wake Mai up now."_ His voice came much more commanding this time.

"Ahh! Okay!" She put the phone down, exasperated. "Don't hang this up Komaya-san, I'll be back."

Ayako walked down the hall to Mai's room. Inside Mai was still sleeping. _Go figure. Why was I half expecting something to be amiss?_ Ayako bent over and nudged her. She was in a bit of a hurry because Naru was waiting.

She nudged her again. "Oi, Mai!" No response. The macines near hummed. There were no red lights._ That has to be a good thing right? _Even if she worked in a hospital, she wasn't currently in the right condition focus on any of them. Naru had just made it so she couldn't be calm. If she couldn't do this, who knows what Naru would do?

"Mai!" Ayako shook the sleeping girl and shouted her name. She pressed the call button.

The doctor would be able to help somehow right? She grabbed Mai's hands, and squeezed them to try and wake her up. She then shook her shoulders again. "Mai, come on!" Ayako brought her hand to her forehead and sighed. This girl was a heavy sleeper. And who had to have the task of...

Wait.

Why had she not realized were Mai's hands cold immediatly? Ayako put a hand against Mai's face. It was cold too.

"Mai!"

* * *

Naru clutched the phone. _30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35..._ the phone was picked up again. 

"Hello?" A voice that belonged to the receptionist asked.

"Can I ask why you picked up the phone? I was waiting to hear from Matsuzaki-san." Naru said calmly.

"Oh! One moment please." Her hand covered the side of the phone for a moment. "It would seem that there is a situation regarding patient Taniyama. We're going to have to move her back to emergency for now. I would appreciate if you would wait for an hour or so to call again, when we can give you some more information regarding what is wrong. Thank you, goodbye now."

She hung up before Naru had a chance to say anything else. He put the phone down. "Lin, go get the others." Lin left, figuring where they would be, considering they expected the microphone was still there.

Naru had barely any time before the others were in, and waiting news.

"It would seem that the ghost has managed to do something to Mai. I called the hospital, and asked Matsuzaki-san to wake her up, but apparently something happened. She has been moved back to the emergency ward. They said information won't be available for an hour." Naru waited, to let that information set in.

There were shocked faces. Masasko looked particularly upset. After all, they had all heard that there shouldn't be much of a problem surrounding her recovery.

Naru continued. "While we could go and see her, to deal directly with the curse, it would be much more effective to deal with the ghost, rather than impose on a hospital. Besides, the stress that we would cause would directly effect her recovery."

"But Mai might know why the ghost is upset." Takigawa said. "Not only by dealing with the curse would we have peace of mind, but we might also be able to find out what Serra believes."

Masako shook her head. this time she wasn't just agreeing with Naru, but she really believed that it was the better idea for Mai. "I think that leaving Mai alone and dealing with the ghost would be better right now. We don't understand the conditions around her readmittance to the emergency ward, and we can't wait an hour to find out." Masako said, looking to Takigawa.

He understood that Masako cared a lot about Mai. This was a truly sorry person. _When I get a chance, I have to tell her that I forgive her. It seems like it has been hard on her._

John nodded. "I agree with Masako. But we still need to find out what Serra believes."

There was silence, as no one had any ideas for what to go on.

"What about Noon?" Takigawa suggested. "I'll go talk to her after we finish here." He stood up, and and started pacing. Masako meanwhile, shook her head. _I get the feeling she won't know either._

John frowned. "I don't have a suggestion, but wouldn't it be a good idea to take Mai's bag to the hospital? When she wakes up, she might want it."

Masako nodded a bit. "If someone were to take it, it might be an oppourtunity to find out what has happened without waiting an hour."

Naru remained silent. John wandered over to Mai's bag and picked it up. "Now that I think about it, its a very good idea. Naru, you and Lin have a vehicle, you could take it to her..." John suggested. Naru looked over.

"Naru?" John looked as Naru poked his hand inside a half open pouch on the side of the bag. There was a folded piece of paper.

"What is that?" Masako asked. "I remember Mai put something in her bag just before she..." No need to say what came after. They already knew.

John, who had been looking at the camera screens at that point, didn't see that happen.

Naru unfolded the paper. There were four groups of words.

_If I had a pair  
Of pretty white wings  
I'd take to the sky every day_

_The longer I stare  
The more my heart sings  
To be able to just fly away_

_I'd miss the earth never  
When I'd take to the sky  
Maybe forever there I'd stay_

_All Ties I'd sever  
With the earth as I fly  
No one'd care anyway_

A poem then?

Takigawa stood up, and pulled it out of Naru's hand. "Mai? Write poetry? That doesn't seem..." Suddenly realization made its way across Takigawa's face. "Thats it. Mai _wouldn't_ be able to do that sort of thing. She took the ideas from realising what Serra believed. I'll bet she dreamt it or something, and used it."

Naru frowned. "And if we're wrong, and Mai _didn't _write it, we endanger a guest at this inn. If I remember correctly, she said it was something for homework." Masako rememberd that too.

Takigawa sighed, and stated his case. "But it fits doesn't it? She jumped off a building! She didn't think she would die! She was expecting to fly!"

"It makes sense, but would Ai be willing to bet her life on that? She hasn't woken up yet, so we can't ask her." Masako pointed out.

Naru turned to Lin. "Find out if this is an original poem." Lin looked at it, then turned to his computer. Naru paused to think between each of the next commands for a good 10 seconds.

"Hara-san, go wake up Ai. We need her to be here, since her life is the one on the line." Masako nodded, and left.

"In one hour, Takigawa-san, you will call the hospital, and get as much information as you can, no matter what we are doing at that point." Takigawa nodded.

Naru turned to Lin. "How long?"

Lin didn't look up. "It seems very likely it is indeed an original poem. But I can't be sure yet. Not much longer." There was silence as nobody knew quite what to do or say. Masako walked back into the room, supporting Ai with her shoulder.

Ai looked around again. "Where's Mai? I didn't see her earlier, but..." She stopped, and looked at everyone's expressions. Besides Naru who as usual didn't seem to have one.

Naru answered. "The more dangerous of the two spirits in this building possesed her and jumped off the roof. She broke her leg, but other than that, there didn't look like there would be any problems with her recovery."

Ai was shocked. "_Didn't?_ Does that mean that now..?"

"Something has gone wrong, and it may have to do with a curse the spirit seems to think it set." Naru said, without any emotion at all.

Ai looked down, and tried to say something. After a few tries, "And so why am I here?"

Takigawa decided to give the answer for this one. Naru's insensitive, impersonal tone was not helping matters. "She has threatened to hurt you as well if we make a mistake. So if we make any decisions, it affects you."

Ai's eyes opened even more. "So..." she paused again, and walked further int the room. "you want my approval to anything you do."

Silence.

"Well do you have any ideas? Are there any leads? Is there anything I can do to help?" there were tears in her eyes, but she had to do something.

Lin turned away from his computer. "Naru, the search is complete. Definitly an original work."

Everyone looked to the computer. "Possibility of error?" Naru asked.

"None."

Naru picked up the poem and read over it. He passed it to Ai. "Mai wrote this before she fell. Did she mention it to you?"

Ai read through it. "No. And she doesn't seem to be the poetry writing type."

Takigawa started pacing, and explained the situation a bit more. "Thats what I thought too. So I think Mai got the idea from seeing one of the spirit's memories. In seeing this memory, she got the idea, then wrote the poem. The spirit also thought that Mai might know." Takigawa sighed. "But if we're wrong, you're the one who will feel it. So we need your input on all the ideas."

Ai was about to agree. But how could she just like that? She could risk her life. How could she just lay that down in a word?

No. There needed to be more.

"Im sorry. but there needs to be more than that. Is there any way you guys can get a bit more proof..."

Masako was thinking. "You guys didn't notice something I did. After Serra's spirit was out of Mai, and Ai, she floated up. In fact, she was laughing after she threatened us earlier. It could be that after coming out of a body stuck on the ground, she needed to get in the air again for her own sanity... or lack of it."

Naru looked to her. "That doesn't mean anything."

Takigawa shrugged. "To you. but you're not the one we're concerned about. Ai-chan, you may have noticed, but nothing we say means anything to him. Ever."

Ai nodded a bit, but was still thinking. "Although, the fact that she died by jumping off the roof makes me believe that she didn't think she would die. But I still don't know."

John nodded. "There isn't much we can say. But any choice of yours is okay. It would be different if it was one of our people on the line. So Naru," John looked over to him. "lets keep our comments to a minimum, unless they are facts."

Takigawa sighed. "Now is as good as any to go talk to Noon then, so I will do so now." He stood up and made his way to the door.

Naru looked to Masako and John. "I would like to speak to Asuka-san alone." Masako nodded, and they files out of the room. Lin also stood up and left. Ai suddenly felt like there was a greater danger in being alone with this guy than there was risking the spirit.

"I trust Mai." Ai said the moment the others were out of there. "She seems like an honest person. But there is currently no way to guarantee anything."

"There is no way of guaranteeing anything ever. The mystery of fate is solved at the moment it becomes now. Not before then." Naru said.

Ai nodded a bit. "But there are ways to try and ensure a positive outcome. Maybe few, but ways."

Naru paused before answering. "If you have any, I'm listening."

Ai too paused. She found that by looking at the situation calmly, she was unfazed by his tone. "I don't want to blame Mai if I agree and it goes wrong. It would not be her fault. It would be my fault. And she's been through enough. I figure you won't just brake the curse on her because it could be damaging to her currently frail condition. So this is where it comes to. Thats the only thing I could think of if Noon doesn't know." She was very surprised herself at her speech.

"So." Naru said, asking for the ultimatum.

"I will wait on Noon's reply before I submit to anything." There was a timid knock on the door.

"Come in." Naru said. Noon opened the door alone. Takigawa was behind her, but wasn't coming in.

"Im sorry for the intrusion. But I have no idea what Serra believed. Kris was the only one who could be around her until the very end. So what she believed died with the two of them that day on the roof. If thats what you guys need to know, then I'm sorry I couldn't be of any help at the end." She bowed low. "I will not take any more of your time. I am still not adverse to you backing out."

Noon walked out. Naru said nothing unil the door was shut.

"There is an alternative."Ai looked up.

"What? What is the other option?" He hadn't said this before...

"Jorei." He said. "It is more or less slaughtering the spirit."

Ai nodded. "Hunting. Ghost hunting."

Naru nodded. "It is a different approach. And if you can not decide we will revert to that method."

Ai shook her head. Once the spirit found peace, it would be better. She would rather the spirit not get dealt with in that way... Jorei did he call it?."No. I believe somehow, Mai will protect me, and that she wrote this in case of this sort of inident, so that Serra's belief might be passed on should something happen." Ai nodded now. "Yes thats the right choice. No matter what she has done before, she deserves her peace, with the one she loves." A fragile smile made its way to Ai's face. "I have made my decision."

Ai now looked determined. "And I want to be the one to tell the spirit."

* * *

Ayako paced in the emergency room. She had been doing so for the past 20 minutes. A nurse came to see her. "Matsuzaki-san? Please come with me." Ayako followed down the hall to a room with several beds. Mai was on the one closest to the door. 

She leaned over and held Mai's cold hands. "What is wrong? What can be done?"

The nurse frowned. "She's still breathing, and her heart is stable. There isn't much to be done. Nothing seems to be off, but she is very cold. I have never seen anything like this before. The doctor is having an emergency conference call to talk to two other doctors who have experienced similar symptoms. From what I read in the newsapaper about them, they made full recoveries. But we will keep her in emergency until we can determine that she will indeed be okay. We can put a chair here if you would like to stay, but we can also get your phone number so you can go home."

Ayako was just nodding along while masaging Mai's cold hands. It came to mind that it might be a curse from a vengeful ghost. But after forcing Mai off a building, what else did Serra want to do to the poor girl? "No. I need to stay." _Naru would be furious. I couldn't deal with him like that. And what if it gets worse? I want to be here._

The nurse nodded. "How about I get you something to drink. Coffee? Juice? Tea?" Ayako thought of Mai's tea. No she couldn't drink tea now. But she was thirsty.

"Just some juice please. Anything you have around."

The nurse nodde and grabbed a nearby chair before going off in search of juice.

Ayako looked back at Mai's face. Without the cold body temperature, she could just be sleeping. Her chest raised and lowered slightly. Her face was not contorted in any sort of pain. So long as you didn't feel her cold-ness, she looked fine. Ayako didn't know how long it was like that either. After all, she only acctually touched Mai's skin when she was awake, and when Naru asked her to wake Mai up.

Good thing he did. Or Ayako would still have thought nothing was wrong, and she was just sleeping.

Just sleeping.

Thats what parents told young children when their fish and dogs and cats die. That was how dead people are described.

_Just sleeping!_

* * *

After a bit more time, Takigawa checked his watch. He wanted to have it dealt with before an hour was up, so that everything would be okay, and when they call the hospital there would be no bad news. The door stayed shut. A voice inside spoke, but no one could tell what it said. AFter a few more moments, the door opened. Ai was standing up very strait, her eyes vacant but determined. 

"It has been decided." Naru said. Ai gave a slight nod.

"It has? And the verdict?" Takigawa asked. Masako and John waited with baited breath.

"I'm going to risk the idea in Mai's poem, but I want to be the one who says it." Ai said, turning to the door. Everyone could see her mind was made up. "But I can't see spirits."

Masako stepped forward. "I will go with you." Takigawa and John looked to her. Even Lin was a bit surprised. "I will go with you, and engage her first."

Ai nodded. "Then when should we do it?" Takigawa asked.

"Immediatly." Naru said, moving out the door past Takigawa, John and Masako. Lin followed Naru. Masako waited behind and looked at Ai.

"Are you sure?" She asked. "Its okay to back out now."

Ai shook her head. "No. I will do this. I have to. I can not back down. This is for Mai." She looked Masako strait in the eye. The way she did was questioning, yet piercing. Masako had never felt such a gaze before. "But you don't hve to do that either. I will go onto the roof alsone, and say it so the clouds. That should make it clear anyway. theres a chance that it might go wrong, but its safer for you."

Masako shook her head. "I can't let that happen. Just as you do this for Mai, I also have a dept to pay. Even though she is no longer here, without her, we would have no way of being able to deal with this. We both do this for Mai." Masako acctually smiled a little, before they both headed out the door to the roof.

* * *

Ayako couldn't believe what the doctor was saying. "Are you sure?" 

"From the sounds of what the other doctors say, the patents were not in fact okay afterwards. Both of them lost crucial memories, and their emotions were stunted. They became more reserved people, not saying much. And, both of them died within two years. The stories that ran in the papers were immediatly after their recovery, before the symptoms were fully present. There are no medications we can use to help, but this will pass over eventually. Although I would suggest not telling her of the final fate of the others." The doctor looked at Mai's body.

"Wait..." he said. He walked over, and put a hand above her mouth.

Ayako noticed now too. Her stomach had stopped moving up and down in rythmic breaths. He put his fingers on her neck. He gasped. "She barely has a pulse, but the machines aren't reading any differently than normal!" He pressed the call button. He kept talking but Ayako couldn't hear.

Everything started fazing out now. All that was going through her mind was that Mai was going to slip away, and there was nothing to be done about it. And there was no way to help her with the curse..._ Wait!_ Ayako looked around. What if she were to make a charm? Maybe it would help now to drive back the effects of the curse. But she would need... Ayako ran out of the room, passing a nurse with a ventilator. Presumably for Mai.

She just needed some ink, the rice paper, and a brush! No time to be picky!

There was a stationary store. She dashed in and grabbed the first things she found, not worrying about the price. She quickly paid for it, and immediatly got to work.

After a few moments she ran into the emergency room again with the still wet, painted charm. Mai was hooked up to the machine. A farmiliar receptionist walked up behind Ayako. "Oh my..." Ako Komaya's voice trailed off. She saw the charm in Ayako's hand, and almost scoffed. _At a time like this she still believes in that junk!_

But maybe it was the truth. Maybe she believed in it because it indeed did something. But it _was_ just a piece of paper. Ako noticed that Ayako seemed to be stuck right there, unable to move forward. She grabbed the charm, and asked. "Does she need to be touching it?"

Ayako barely nodded.

Ako nodded back and went in past a doctor. The attention was not on the receptionist as she slipped it under the hospital bracelet, so she made it clear. "Its for the peace of mind of her guest here. Don't remove it."

The doctor nodded, and then paused. He put his fingers back at Mai's neck, and looked up surprised. "Her heartbeat has been sustained for now." The doctor, the nurse, and the receptionist looked at the charm. Could it be the power of the positive mind? Considering the guest had thought it would help? "We will keep her on the ventilator."

Ayako knew that the puny charm was helping, but she did not have the right tools to do anything better right now. And to get them meant leaving. So this would be the best she could do.

* * *

At the top of the stairs, just before the door to the roof, Masako and Ai were ready to go out to see the spirit. Masako looked to her and they nodded. Masako turned back to the group."We will see you then..."

Ai stepped forward. "We go alone." She opened the door before anyone could complain, or reject the idea. Takigawa was about to follow anyway. Naru blocked it.

"Its her choice. Honour it."

Ai looked back and silently thanked Naru before closing the door.

Masako stood in the middle of the roof. "Serra." Ai said to nothing she could see. Masako behind her pointed to the sky.

"Greystone, Serra. And your name is?" Masako heard Serra say.

"Her name is Greystone, Serra. Say your name." Masako told Ai

"Asuka, Ai."

"You came alone. Both of you."

"No one else was needed." Masako said. Ai didn't feel like herself. She did wish she had people to back her up, but she didn't want them to be around if things didn't work out. They didn't need to watch that happen again.

"So you have something to say to me." Serra said. Ai thought absentmindedly that Greystone was a pretty last name.

But it was short lived. "I, Ai, Believe you fully and completely." Ai said, deciding to get to the point, without bothering to determine from Masako whether this Serra was done. She just had a feeling anyway it was the right time to say it.

Serra frowned. "Believe what? If you have no proof that you understand, that last statement was your deathwish." she didn't seem to know that Ai couldn't hear or see her.

Masako nodded to Ai. Ai nodded. "I know. But I understand. In your life you were unable to. You more than anything wanted to fly unaided. You wanted free from the pain that this world held for you."

Serra's eyes opened wide. This girl... "Ai Asuka..."

"Well you can now!" Ai shouted, tears in her eyes. "You can fly now. You can take to the coulds. If you let yourself go from this world, and the sadness that no one even knew why you commited suicide, you can truly fly!"

Masako looked to Ai. She could tell Ai didn't know what to say at this point, so she took over. "If you were still alive I would not believe that you could. But you can _now!_ So go! You have what you wanted, so let go. And if you do, those around you will be happy as well! I _know_ for sure someone who will be able to finally be at rest when you are! So just go! If not for you, then for your most beloved!"

Masako's eyes faded, and she sunk to the ground. "Masako!" Ai called, and looked to her _friend_. The wind whispered to Ai.

_You're right. I'm sorry._

Masako stood up again, but Ai could tell it wasn't Masako. She seemed different now.

"Ai Asuka... I must thank you for calming her spirit. For now, I too can be at peace."Ai smiled and nodded. It must have been Kris. Masako fell down again. This time Ai grabbed her.

"Hara-san!" She cried. The door to the roof opened at this call. Led by John, SPR invaded the roof. Masako looked up. "Ai, you did it. Thank-you."

"No! You and I did it _together! _She helped Masako back to her feet.

* * *

Mai wasn't feeling quite right. She felt like she was just below the surface, but something held her under. After a bit of time trying to break through and wake up, she sughed and gave up. _They much be worried..._

She looked around at where her mind was. It was all black. Except...

"Naru..." He smiled that smile that she loved. No... she loved the real Naru more than the dream. Even if it was nice to see him kind, the real one was the one that she loved.

"Come on. Everyone will be concerned if you don't wake up. You can now okay?"

Mai nodded. She tried again, but just couldn't. "No... I still can't its almost as if..." Dream Naru held out a hand.

"Come on, I'll help." Mai grabbed it, and he pulled. It was almost as if her feet were stuck, holding her behind.

_Come on!_

Mai woke up.

There was an air mask over her face. the air tasted weird so she sputtered a bit. All of a sudden Ayako was right there.

"Mai! Mai!" She pulled off the mask, and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Are you okay? Do you remember everything? Mai, tell me whats going on!" Mai smiled.

"I'm okay. I remember everything I think. But more so..." She looked at the red mark on her arm which glowed brighter than before.

_Thank you again, Naru._

Ayako pulled off the mask. "They did it then! Come on! Naru wanted to talk to you."

The doctor walked in. "Matsuzaki-san! What did you..."

Mai looked over, "I'm sorry, but I'm fine.. just a little tired. So you can tell Naru I'll talk to him later." a thought pssed through her that Naru wouldn't like that. But he would have to deal, because she was tired.

Mai settled back down, and was asleep again. Ayako looked over to the doctor. "I work at a hospital and I can say withot a doubt there is no longer any reason for her to remain in the emergency ward.If you could move her back upstairs, I can keep watch on her."

The doctor nodded.

Ayako looked back over to Mai.

_Just sleeping._

_Really_


	13. Clouds Epilogue

And so, here it is, the epilogue. And thanks to Merriam-Webster dictionary, it has the right spelling.

Thanks go out to everyone for the second time. As well as a bonus. I have decided on a name for the next story. _Trees_. It will be a sequal I guess, but there will be little to know relation to this story. Yeah. I have a plan for another story too. A direct sequal. It will be goodness I think. But its just a plan. It would come after _Trees._ Im not good at naming things... you may have noticed... -.-

Discalimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt, or the Merriam-Webster dictionary... I... yeah.

* * *

Epilogue- 

Mai opened the filing cabinet, and put in the folder that had all the information about the case. She closed it, and picked up her crutches which she had put on the ground to free up her hands. It had been 4 days since she was let out of the hospital, and her first day back at work or school.

After a few moments of doing nothing, "Hey Naru? You want some tea or something?" Mai called. She was bored enough to offer. _A new low..._

"Yeah I guess so. Call me when it's ready, and I'll come get it." The reply came.

"And Lin-san? Any for you?"

"No thank you, Taniyama-san." Mai shrugged. She was happy Naru wasn't going to make her figure out how to carry it to his office.

Once the water was hot enough, she made a pot full, and poured two cups. Mai put down one of her crutches, and waddled over to the table to place her own cup down. She then made her way to Naru's door and knocked. "It's done."

Mai made it back to the kitchen without hearing Naru come out. She leaned over to try and pick up her oter crutch, but couldn't quite reach it.

_Just a little farther..._ Mai nearly fell right over. Naru grabbed her shoulder and she regained her balance immediatly. He picked up the crutch for her. "Thank you." she said, blushing a bit. He made no comment.

Mai wondered why she bothered to thank him. He didn't do it for her.

Ah, but if he did, he wouldn't be Naru. And she loved _Naru_.

Naru took the cup to his office without a word, and Mai was bored again. She looked at the door hoping _someone_ would come and knock to give her company. Almost anyone would do! She just needed someone to spend some time with.

**(Knock Knock)**

Mai turned to look at the door. Was it really a guest? _Maybe Bou-san, or Ayako! Someone who wantes to chat! Mind you, chatting can be boring when all they want to know is if you're okay..._

Mai opened the door.

Oh great. Of all the people, the one she couldn't chat with.

"Hi Masako." She was probably looking for Naru. Mai hobbled out of the way to let her in. Masako stepped past. "Naru's in his office, and there's tea in the pot. I just made it."

Masako looked back to Mai. "I'm not here to see Naru."

Mai was surprised. Why would Masako come, if not for Naru.

"Mai, I came to see you."

"-"

"-"

"What?" Masako asked.

Mai was still really surprised. "Really? You came to see me?" She closed the door. "Why?"

"I need a reason to come see a _friend?_" Friend. _Yes. She is one._

Mai smiled. Masako did as well. _Her smile really is something special. I've never seen one for me before._

They walked to the couch. mai set her crutches on the table. "It's odd though. Usually, when you come to talk to Naru, you don't want to see me."

Masako nodded. She felt a bit bad about her former behavior. But then again, this probably wouldn't become anything. Chances are she wouldn't come back just to see Mai again for a while. "Things change." Mai nodded a bit too.

Masako stood up and headed to the kitchen. "Oh no, whatever you want, let me get it." Mai said, scrambling for her crutches.

"How could I ask an injured person to do that?" Masako continued to the kitchen. Mai sat back down, but felt really bad about it.

Once Masako returned with a tea cup, Mai sighed. "What's wrong?" Masako asked.

"I feel more useless than usual. I can hardly even do the little things I used to do. Now I'm pretty much good for nothing until _this _heals." She looked to her leg which was in a cast as if her gaze could make it go away sooner. There were some names scrawled on it. _Friends_ from school, that had signed it earlier that day.

Masako had an idea. She grabbed a thick pen from the table. "May I?" Mai smiled and nodded. Masako signed her name, then drew a flower.

"You're not useless Mai. Ever. Last time, you were the only one who knew why Serra was so upset. Without you, or your sacrifice," she motioned towards Mai's leg. "we wouldn't have been able to do it."

Mai looked at Masako's signature on her cast. "Once this thing comes off, I could sell it for so much!" Mai laughed. She felt much lighter now. "But I wouldn't. Thank you so much."

Masako smiled.

* * *

Mai smiled as she saw Masako off. The door to Naru's office opened again. "Is there still tea in the pot?" 

"Yeah." Mai wandered over to the window, making slow progress on her crutches. By the time she made it there, Naru had already closed the door behind him.

Mai looked to the clouds that covered the sky.

She could see how Serra wanted to fly, even just looking at the clouds just then. It was enticing. Mai wondered what it would be like to be a plane pilot. Flying everyday through those clouds. Mai thought about her poem and the ideas she put into it. To stay from the ground always? To always be flying? Maybe that would be nice.

But there was so much to love on the ground too.

--Fin

-The 3lemon3


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